Competencia entre grupos, cooperación intragrupal y desempeño relativo

We report the results of a new public goods experiment with an intra-group cooperation dilemma and inter-group competition. In our design subjects receive information about their relative individual and group performance after each round with non-incentivized and then incentivized group competition. We found that, on average, individuals with low relative performance reduce their contributions to the public good, but groups with low performance increase theirs. With incentivized competition, where the relative ranking of the group increases individual payoffs, the reaction to relative performance is larger with individuals contributing more to the group; further, we observe that the variance of strategies decreases as individual and group rankings increase. These results offer new insights on how social comparison shapes similar reactions in games with different incentives for group performance and how competition and cooperation can influence each othe

A Search for Old Star Clusters in the Large Magellanic Cloud

We report the first results of a color-magnitude diagram survey of 25 candidate old LMC clusters. For almost all of the sample, it was possible to reach the turnoff region, and in many clusters we have several magnitudes of the main sequence. Age estimates based on the magnitude difference $\delta T_1$ between the giant branch clump and the turnoff revealed that no new old clusters were found. The candidates turned out to be of intermediate age (1-3 Gyr) We show that the apparently old ages as inferred from integrated UBV colors can be explained by a combination of stochastic effects produced by bright stars and by photometric errors for faint clusters lying in crowded fields. The relatively metal poor candidates from the CaII triplet spectroscopy also turned out to be of intermediate age. This, combined with the fact that they lie far out in the disk, yields interesting constraints regarding the formation and evolution of the LMC disk. We also study the age distribution of intermediate age and old clusters This homogeneous set of accurate relative ages allows us to make an improved study of the history of cluster formation/destruction for ages $>1$Gyr. We confirm previous indications that there was apparently no cluster formation in the LMC during the period from 3-8 Gyr ago, and that there was a pronounced epoch of cluster formation beginning 3 Gyrs ago that peaked at about 1.5 Gyrs ago. Our results suggest that there are few, if any, genuine old clusters in the LMC left to be found.Comment: LaTeX, to be published in Nov. 1997 Astronomical Journa

a Costa pluton, an expresion of S- type magmatism in the northeastern sector of the Sierra de Velasco, Sierras Pampeanas

Estudios combinados de petrología, química mineral y geoquímcia de roca total revelan la presencia de dos unidades graníticas peraluminosas con minerales aluminosos magmáticos tales como granate y mica blanca y la presencia distintiva de turmalina. Las evidencias aquí presentadas indican que estas dos facies, Anillaco y Anjullón, junto a la unidad peraluminosa Santa Cruz estudiada en trabajos previos, constituyen una serie de rocas co-sanguíneas, emplazadas en niveles someros de la corteza y las cuales conforman una unidad ígnea mayor denominada aquí plutón La Costa, la cual aflora en el sector noreste de la sierra de Velasco. La asociación mineral, la química mineral y la geoquímica de roca total permiten definir al plutón La Costa como un clásico granitoide tipo-S, derivado de una roca fuente de composición esencialmente pelítica. Diferentes estudios demuestran que la generación de granitoides tipo-S requiere de un alto gradiente geotérmico, por lo cual el plutón La Costa indica que la corteza en esta región soportó un notable calentamiento durante la generación del magma. Sin embargo, la ausencia de datos geocronológicos impide definir el evento tectomagmático que produjo el magma primordial de este plutón.Combined petrology, mineral chemistry and whole-rock geochemistry studies reveal the presence of two peraluminous granitic units with magmatic aluminous minerals, such as garnet and white mica, and the distinctive presence of tourmaline. The evidence presented here indicates that these two facies, Anillaco and Anjullón, together with the peraluminous Santa Cruz unit studied in previous works, constitute co-sanguineous rocks, emplacemed in shallow levels of the crust, conforming a greater igneous unit, named here as La Costa pluton, that outcrops in the northeast sector of the sierra de Velasco. The mineral assemblage, the mineral chemistry and the whole-rock geochemistry allow defining the La Costa pluton as classic S-type granitoids, derived of a source rock of dominant pelitic composition. Several studies demonstrate that a high geothermal gradient is required for the generation of S-types granitoids, thus the La Costa pluton indicates that the crust supported a remarkable heating in this region during the generation of the magma. However, the absence of geochronological data prevents identification of the tectomagmatic event that yielded the parental magma of this pluton.Fil: Alasino, Pablo Horacio. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Regional de Investigaciones Científicas y Transferencia Tecnológica de La Rioja. - Universidad Nacional de La Rioja. Centro Regional de Investigaciones Científicas y Transferencia Tecnológica de La Rioja. - Universidad Nacional de Catamarca. Centro Regional de Investigaciones Científicas y Transferencia Tecnológica de La Rioja. - Secretaría de Industria y Minería. Servicio Geológico Minero Argentino. Centro Regional de Investigaciones Científicas y Transferencia Tecnológica de La Rioja. - Provincia de La Rioja. Centro Regional de Investigaciones Científicas y Transferencia Tecnológica de La Rioja; ArgentinaFil: Dahlquist, Juan Andrés. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Regional de Investigaciones Científicas y Transferencia Tecnológica de La Rioja. - Universidad Nacional de La Rioja. Centro Regional de Investigaciones Científicas y Transferencia Tecnológica de La Rioja. - Universidad Nacional de Catamarca. Centro Regional de Investigaciones Científicas y Transferencia Tecnológica de La Rioja. - Secretaría de Industria y Minería. Servicio Geológico Minero Argentino. Centro Regional de Investigaciones Científicas y Transferencia Tecnológica de La Rioja. - Provincia de La Rioja. Centro Regional de Investigaciones Científicas y Transferencia Tecnológica de La Rioja; ArgentinaFil: Galindo, C.. Universidad Complutense de Madrid; EspañaFil: Casquet, C.. Universidad Complutense de Madrid; Españ

Histone Mutants Separate R Loop Formation from Genome Instability Induction

R loops have positive physiological roles, but they can also be deleterious by causing genome instability, and the mechanisms for this are unknown. Here we identified yeast histone H3 and H4 mutations that facilitate R loops but do not cause instability. R loops containing single-stranded DNA (ssDNA), versus RNA-DNA hybrids alone, were demonstrated using ssDNA-specific human AID and bisulfite. Notably, they are similar size regardless of whether or not they induce genome instability. Contrary to mutants causing R loop-mediated instability, these histone mutants do not accumulate H3 serine-10 phosphate (H3S10-P). We propose a two-step mechanism in which, first, an altered chromatin facilitates R loops, and second, chromatin is modified, including H3S10-P, as a requisite for compromising genome integrity. Consistently, these histone mutations suppress the high H3S10 phosphorylation and genomic instability of hpr1 and sen1 mutants. Therefore, contrary to what was previously believed, R loops do not cause genome instability by themselves.European Research Council ERC2014 AdG669898Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad BFU2013-42918-P, BFU2016-75058-

Multiconfigurational second-order perturbation study of the decomposition of the radical anion of nitromethane

The doublet potential energy surfaces involved in the decomposition of the nitromethane radical anion (CH3NO2−) have been studied by using the multistate extension of the multiconfigurational second-order perturbation method (MS-CASPT2) in conjunction with large atomic natural orbital-type basis sets. A very low energy barrier is found for the decomposition reaction: CH3NO2−→[CH3NO2]−→CH3+NO2−. No evidence has been obtained on the existence of an isomerization channel leading to the initial formation of the methylnitrite anion (CH3ONO−) which, in a subsequent reaction, would yield nitric oxide (NO). In contrast, it is suggested that NO is formed through the bimolecular reaction: CH3+NO2−→[CH3O-N-O]−→CH3O−+NO. In particular, the CASSCF/MS-CASPT2 results indicate that the methylnitrite radical anion CH3ONO− does not represent a minimum energy structure, as concluded by using density functional theory (DFT) methodologies. The inverse symmetry breaking effect present in DFT is demonstrated to be responsible for such erroneous [email protected]

Antioxidant potential of atmospheric freeze-dried apples as affected by ultrasound application and sample surface

[EN] Atmospheric freeze drying (AFD) yields products of a similar quality to the conventional vacuum freeze-drying technique, but reduces the operating cost. However, it involves very low drying rates. The sample surface/mass ratio is one of the process variables that can be taken into account to reduce drying time. Moreover, power ultrasound (US) can also be used to intensify this process because of its effects on external and internal mass transfer resistance. However, both factors may affect not only the drying time but also the final product quality. Therefore, the aim of this study was to address the influence of both ultrasound application and the sample surface/mass ratio on the drying process and the antioxidant potential of atmospheric freeze-dried apple. For that purpose, two sample geometries with different surface/mass ratio were considered: slabs (30 � 30 � 10 mm3) and cylinders (diameter: 9 mm and height: 30 mm). The samples were freeze dried (􀀀 10°C) with ultrasound application (21.7 kHz) at different power levels (0, 10.3, 20.5, and 30.8 kW/m3). The total phenolic content (TPC), antioxidant capacity (AC), and ascorbic acid content (AA) were measured in the dried apple. The drying time was significantly shorter for cylindrical samples than for slabs, probably due to their higher surface/mass ratio. The application of US increased the drying rate, this increase being greater for the slab than for the cylindrical particles used in this study. In general, AFD reduced the TPC, AC, and AA, the final content being significantly greater for slabs than for cylinders. This fact can also be related to the lower surface/ mass ratio in the case of slabs. US application further reduced TPC, AC, and AA content, probably due to some cellular damage produced by the acoustic waves and to the oxygen transfer improvement. Nevertheless, the bigger particles (slabs) dried with ultrasound needed a 10% of drying time than the smaller ones (cylinders) dried without ultrasound. Moreover both kind of samples presented similar antioxidant potential.The authors acknowledge the financial support of the Generalitat Valenciana (PROMETEOII/2014/005).Moreno, C.; Brines, C.; Mulet Pons, A.; Rosselló, C.; Carcel Carrión, JA. (2017). Antioxidant potential of atmospheric freeze-dried apples as affected by ultrasound application and sample surface. Drying Technology. 35(8):957-968. doi:10.1080/07373937.2016.1256890S95796835

On the effect of ultrasound-assisted atmospheric freeze-drying on the antioxidant properties of eggplant

[EN] The low operating temperatures employed in atmospheric freeze-drying permits an effective drying of heat sensitive products, without any impairment of their quality attributes. When using power ultrasound, the drying rate can be increased, thus reducing the process duration. However, ultrasound can also affect the product quality. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of various drying process variables, namely air temperature and velocity, ultrasound power and sample size, on the antioxidant properties of eggplant (Solanum Melongena L.) samples. For this reason, drying experiments were carried out at different drying temperatures (-5, -7.5, -10 °C), power ultrasound levels (0, 25, 50 W; 21.9 kHz) and air velocities (2, 5 m s-1) using different sample sizes (8.8 mm and 17.6 mm cube side). The ascorbic acid content (Jagota and Dani method), total phenolic content (Folin-Ciocalteau method), and the antioxidant capacity (FRAP method) of the dried products were considered as quality indicators of the dried samples. The increase in air velocity and temperature, as well as the sample size, significantly reduced the antioxidant potential of the dried samples (p-value < 0.05). For a given sample size, the application of ultrasound, at the acoustic power levels tested, did not produce significant effects on the antioxidant indicators considered. Temperature measurements inside the drying sample showed a non-negligible temperature rise when acoustic power was applied.The authors acknowledge the financial support from Generalitat Valenciana (PROMETEOII/2014/005) and INIA-ERDF (RTA2015-00060-C04-02).Colucci, D.; Fisore, D.; Rosselló, C.; Carcel Carrión, JA. (2018). On the effect of ultrasound-assisted atmospheric freeze-drying on the antioxidant properties of eggplant. Food Research International. 106:580-588. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodres.2018.01.022S58058810

Milk powder agglomerate growth and properties in fluidized bed agglomeration

[EN] Fluidized bed agglomeration is used to produce large and porous dry agglomerates with improved instant properties. Water (or binder solution) is sprayed in the fluidized bed of particles to render their surface sticky. The agglomerate growth results from the repetition of different steps (wetting of the particle surface, particles collision and bridging, and drying) and depends on the processing conditions and product properties. In this work, skim and whole milk powders were fluidized in hot air and agglomerated by spraying water in a bench-scale batch fluidized bed. The aim was to study the impact of the sprayed water flow rate (0 5.5 g.min&#8722;1), particle load (300 400 g), initial particle size (200 350 ìm), and composition (skim whole milk) on the growth mechanisms and on the properties of the agglomerates obtained. Powder samples were regularly taken in the fluidized bed during agglomeration and characterized for the size, size distribution, and water content. Whatever the conditions tested, the size increase and the evolution of the particle size distribution during agglomeration were found to mainly depend on the relative amount of water sprayed in the particle bed. Agglomeration occurred in two stages, with first the rapid association of initial particles into intermediate structures, and second, the progressive growth of porous agglomerates. In any case, agglomeration allowed improving instant properties of the milk powder.Barkouti, A.; Turchiuli, C.; Carcel Carrión, JA.; Dumoulin, E. (2013). Milk powder agglomerate growth and properties in fluidized bed agglomeration. Dairy Science and Technology. 93(4-5):523-535. doi:10.1007/s13594-013-0132-7S523535934-5Banjac M, Stakic M, Voronjec D (1998) Kinetics of agglomeration of milk powder in a vibro-fluidized bed. Proc. 11th International Drying Symposium (IDS'98), B: 998–1005.Banjac M, Stamenić M, Lečić M, Stakić M (2009) Size distribution of agglomerates of milk powder in wet granulation process in a vibro-fluidized bed. Brazilian J Chem Eng 26:515–525Dewettinck K, Deroo L, Messens W, Huyghebaert A (1998) Agglomeration tendency during top-spray fluidized bed coating with gums. Lebensm Wiss Technol 31:576–584Forny L, Marabi A, Palzer S (2011) Wetting, disintegration and dissolution of agglomerated water soluble powders. Powder Technol 206:72–78Fries L, Dosta M, Antonyuk S, Heinrich S, Palzer S (2010) Moisture distribution in fluidized beds with liquid injection. Proc. 17th International Drying Symposium (IDS 2010), Magdeburg, Germany.Heinrich S, Blumschein J, Henneberg M, Ihlow M, Mörl L (2003) Study of dynamic multidimensional temperature and concentration distributions in liquid-sprayed fluidized beds. Chem Eng Sci 58:5135–5160Jimenez T (2007) Agglomération de particules par voie humide en lit fluidisé [Wet fluidized bed agglomeration of particles]. PhD, ENSIA, Massy, France.Jimenez T, Turchiuli C, Dumoulin E (2006) Particles agglomeration in a conical fluidized bed in relation with air temperature profiles. Chem Eng Sci 61:5954–5961Kim EH-J, Dong Chen X, Pearce D (2009) Surface composition of industrial spray-dried milk powder. J Food Eng 94:169–181Koga S, Kobayashi T, Inoue I (1989) Drying and agglomeration of skim milk powder by a vibro-fluidized bed, heat transfer. Japan Res 18:1–8Maronga SJ, Wnukowski P (1997) Establishing temperature and humidity profiles in fluidized bed particulate coating. Powder Technol 94:181–185Maronga SJ, Wnukowski P (1998) The use of humidity and temperature profiles in optimizing the size of fluidized bed in a coating process. Chem Eng Sci 37:423–432Murrieta-Pazos I, Gaiani C, Galet L, Cuq B, Desobry S, Scher J (2011) Comparative study of particle structure evolution during water sorption: skim and whole milk powders. Coll and Surf B Biointerfaces 87:1–10Neff E, Morris HAL (1968) Agglomeration of milk powder and its influence on reconstitution properties. J Dairy Sci 51:330–338Niskanen T, Yliruusi J, Niskanen M, Kontro O (1990) Granulation of potassium chloride in instrumented fluidized bed granulator—part I: effect of flow rate. Acta Pharm Fenn 99:13–22Palzer S (2011) Agglomeration of pharmaceutical, detergent, chemical and food powders—similarities and differences of materials and processes. Powder Technol 206:2–17Saad MM, Barkouti A, Rondet E, Ruiz T, Cuq B (2011) Study of agglomeration mechanisms of food powders: application to durum wheat semolina. Powder Technol 208:399–408Turchiuli C, Smail R, Dumoulin E (2012) Fluidized bed agglomeration of skim milk powder: analysis of sampling for the follow-up of agglomerate growth. Powder Technol 238:161–168Vuataz G (2002) The phase diagram of milk: a new tool for optimizing the drying process. Lait 82:485–500Waldie B, Wilkinson D, Zachra L (1987) Kinetics and mechanisms of growth in batch and continuous fluidized bed granulation. Chem Eng Sci 42:653–66

Skin prick test wheal detection in 3D images via convolutional neural networks

The skin prick test (SPT) is performed to diagnose different types of allergies. This medical procedure requires measuring the size of the skin wheals that appear when the test is performed. However, the manual measurement method is cumbersome and suffers from intraand inter-observer errors. Thus, multiple approaches have been developed to improve the reproducibility of the test. This work aims to improve part of the automated reading of the SPT to improve the reliability of the wheal detection procedure through the use of convolutional neural networks (CNN). Our proposal starts from the 3D images of the SPT from the arm of patients. They are processed for global surface removal, and then a CNN is trained to produce an output mask that detects the wheals. Finally, the contour of each wheal and its largest diameter is obtained. Encouraging results with mean difference 0.966 mm and mean coefficient of variation 7.29% show that the proposed method provides reliable automated skin wheal detection