Northwest Africa 5790. Top Sequence of the Nakhlite Pile

NWA 5790 is a recently discovered nakhlite. Its mineralogy, petrology and geochemistry suggest that it is the topmost sequence of the nakhlite lava pile

MAXIMALITY OF LOGIC WITHOUT IDENTITY

Lindström’s theorem obviously fails as a characterization of first-order logic without identity ( L − ωω ). In this note, we provide a fix: we show that L − ωω is a maximal abstract logic satisfying a weak form of the isomorphism property (suitable for identity-free languages and studied in [11]), the Löwenheim–Skolem property, and compactness. Furthermore, we show that compactness can be replaced by being recursively enumerable for validity under certain conditions. In the proofs, we use a form of strong upwards Löwenheim–Skolem theorem not available in the framework with identity

Financing Sustainability in the Arts Sector: The Case of the Art Bonus Public Crowdfunding Campaign in Italy

This paper addresses the conditions that can facilitate the long-term effectiveness of civic crowdfunding fundraising strategies. While previous studies have provided a broad picture of the possible conditions for fostering effective fundraising strategies, most have considered the implications of fundraising only for management or only for cultural policy, neglecting an integrated approach that contemplates the needs of both. Thus, this work integrates cultural management and cultural policy perspectives by discussing a specific exploratory case study: Art Bonus, a cultural patronage tax incentive strategy introduced by the Italian government in 2014, which also includes civic crowdfunding features. To the best of our knowledge, Art Bonus is the first national civic crowdfunding platform supported by a national government. As an innovative and unique platform, its analysis is particularly relevant. This work analyzes the system’s functioning and the results obtained in its first years of operation (2014–2016) by accessing the public database relating to the donations transited through the platform. While the initiative effectively channeled more fundraising resources into the cultural sector, the results also illustrate potential points for improving such a system

Radiogenomics in clear cell renal cell carcinoma: correlations between advanced CT imaging (texture analysis) and microRNAs expression

Purpose: A relevant challenge for the improvement of clear cell renal cell carcinoma management could derive from the identification of novel molecular biomarkers that could greatly improve the diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment choice of these neoplasms. In this study, we investigate whether quantitative parameters obtained from computed tomography texture analysis may correlate with the expression of selected oncogenic microRNAs. Methods: In a retrospective single-center study, multiphasic computed tomography examination (with arterial, portal, and urographic phases) was performed on 20 patients with clear cell renal cell carcinoma and computed tomography texture analysis parameters such as entropy, kurtosis, skewness, mean, and standard deviation of pixel distribution were measured using multiple filter settings. These quantitative data were correlated with the expression of selected microRNAs (miR-21-5p, miR-210-3p, miR-185-5p, miR-221-3p, miR-145-5p). Both the evaluations (microRNAs and computed tomography texture analysis) were performed on matched tumor and normal corticomedullar tissues of the same patients cohort. Results: In this pilot study, we evidenced that computed tomography texture analysis has robust parameters (eg, entropy, mean, standard deviation) to distinguish normal from pathological tissues. Moreover, a higher coefficient of determination between entropy and miR-21-5p expression was evidenced in tumor versus normal tissue. Interestingly, entropy and miR-21-5p show promising correlation in clear cell renal cell carcinoma opening to a radiogenomic strategy to improve clear cell renal cell carcinoma management. Conclusion: In this pilot study, a promising correlation between microRNAs and computed tomography texture analysis has been found in clear cell renal cell carcinoma. A clear cell renal cell carcinoma can benefit from noninvasive evaluation of texture parameters in adjunction to biopsy results. In particular, a promising correlation between entropy and miR-21-5p was found

A study on EEG power and connectivity in a virtual reality bimanual rehabilitation training system

The study of neural processes that describe bimanual activity in areas such as neurology and rehabilitation are of high interest, in particular for rehabilitation after brain injury. However, brain processes during bimanual motor rehabilitation are not fully understood during stroke rehabilitation. Hence, it is not clear how to exploit them and their possible advantages in an EEG driven Virtual Reality (VR) training. In this work, VR and EEG were combined to study the neural processes in motor areas during bimanual activity in a serious game, involving two kind of movements: Left to Right (L2R) movement (Right handle forward and Left handle backward movements) and Right to Left (R2L) movement (Right handle backward and Left handle forward movements). 10 right handed healthy people (7 Males, 3 Females, 29.9 ± 6.21 years old) participated in this study. As it was expected, differences between rest and bimanual activity conditions (L2R and R2L) were found, surprisingly, on lowest frequency bands, Delta and Theta. More relevant results were found on Delta band at the right Hemisphere and inter-hemispherical relations, specifically for intra-hemispherical connectivity for CPSD relations with p=0.005 (L2R) and p=0.02 (R2L), and power quantified with PSD with p=0.023 (L2R) and p=0.03 (R2L), while inter-hemispherical connectivity got lower values on resting compared to L2R movement with a p=0.015. Besides, comparisons between resting and movement in Theta band showed significant results for inter-hemispherical connectivity (p=0.03, L2R vs Rest, and R2L vs Rest) and differences in power for Left Hemisphere (p=0.05). Finally, non-significant differences were found in motor cortex between the two kind of bimanual activities tested on this work. These results create an opening scenario to test for mirror effect of bimanual activities from one hemisphere to another on populations with hemi paretic conditions, aiming to apply it in a near future as therapy for Stroke Survivors.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Reindeer carcasses provide foraging habitat for insectivorous birds of the alpine tundra

On August of 2016, almost an entire herd (n = 323) of wild tundra reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) was killed by lightning on Hardangervidda in southern Norway. While conducting fieldwork for another study in 2017, we opportunistically registered the occurrence and behaviour of birds on carcasses from this mass die-off. Several passerine species other than corvids were observed actively foraging on arthropods, such as blowfly (Calliphoridae sp.) adults and larvae, which are typically associated with carcass decomposition. We quantified observations of those birds, and described their foraging behaviour at the carcass site. In decreasing order of abundance, five passerine species were observed taking arthropods at the site: Meadow Pipit (Anthus pratensis), Northern Wheatear (Oenanthe oenanthe), Common Reed Bunting (Emberiza schoeniclus), Bluethroat (Luscinia svecica,), and Lapland Bunting (Calcarius lapponicus). Systematic surveys of passerines utilizing carcass sites would further our understanding of how such resources may affect behaviour and life history of various bird species

In situ detection of AE2 anion-exchanger mRNA in the human liver

Na+-independent anion exchangers, a family of membrane proteins that mediate electroneutral exchanges of chloride and bicarbonate ions across the cell membrane, are considered to be involved in intracellular pH regulation as well as in transepithelial acid/base transport. Previous immunohistochemical data have shown that anion-exchanger-2 (AE2) protein is expressed in the liver parenchyma, localizing at both the canaliculi and the luminal surfaces of intrahepatic bile ducts, where it may have a role in the biliary secretion of bicarbonate. In the present study, we have carried out in situ hybridization experiments on biopsies of human liver using three overlapping antisense anion-exchanger-2 riboprobes. Anion-exchanger-2 mRNA signals were localized mainly in the cytoplasm of terminal and interlobular bile-duct cells, whereas weaker signals were observed in bile-duct cells of larger intrahepatic ducts. Furthermore, some hepatocytes, mostly periportal, contained detectable anion-exchanger-2 mRNA signals in their cytoplasm. No hybridization signals were observed in controls with sense riboprobes, with omission of the antisense probe, or with treatment of the sections with RNase before hybridizations. Finally, intense anion-exchanger-2 hybridization signals were observed in lymphomononuclear cells in sinusoids and in portal infiltrates. Immunocytochemical data from reverse-phase sections suggest that these cells correspond to some of the CD45R+ (UCHL1+) T lymphocytes resident in the liver

Development of an Optimization-Based Atomistic-to-Continuum Coupling Method

Atomistic-to-Continuum (AtC) coupling methods are a novel means of computing the properties of a discrete crystal structure, such as those containing defects, that combine the accuracy of an atomistic (fully discrete) model with the efficiency of a continuum model. In this note we extend the optimization-based AtC, formulated in arXiv:1304.4976 for linear, one-dimensional problems to multi-dimensional settings and arbitrary interatomic potentials. We conjecture optimal error estimates for the multidimensional AtC, outline an implementation procedure, and provide numerical results to corroborate the conjecture for a 1D Lennard-Jones system with next-nearest neighbor interactions.Comment: 12 pages, 3 figure