Alien Registration- Lewis, Berla S. (Calais, Washington County)

https://digitalmaine.com/alien_docs/2598/thumbnail.jp

Mechanical properties of lithiated silicon: A candidate electrode for lithium ion batteries

Recent advances in nanoindentation of lithiated silicon are described. Silicon, due to its high theoretical specific capacity for electrochemical lithium incorporation, has emerged as one of the most appealing materials to replace conventional graphitic anodes in lithium ion batteries. But inserting lithium into silicon causes a large volume expansion (~300%) that can promote fracture during lithiation/delithiation cycling, thereby reducing the practical capacity of silicon lithium ion battery anodes. Understanding these mechanical behavior problems is essential for their management and control. Current FEM modeling is based on only estimates of the elastic and properties of lithiated Si. Better knowledge of these mechanical properties is required. We have developed a method for conducting nanoindentation experiments on lithiated silicon under the protection of a mineral oil and have made accurate measurements of hardness and modulus of amorphous silicon as a function of lithium content. We have also observed and characterized viscoplastic creep in lithiated silicon, using both time-dependent displacement measurements and time-dependent stiffness measurements using the CSM feature of the nanoindenter and the analysis method introduced by Maier, Merle, Göken and Durst. We find that viscoplastic flow can be described as a stress-driven, thermally activated process with an activation volume comparable to the scale of a molecular unit of Li15Si4. These findings point to the importance of incorporating viscoplasticity into lithiation/delithiation models. These more subtle mechanical behavior effects may need to be included in future modeling. It is hoped that these studies will be useful in the design of silicon electrodes for advanced battery systems

Metabolic Engineering of Cyanobacteria for Photosynthetic Production of Drop-In Liquid Fuels

Cyanobacteria are oxygenic phototrophs with great potential as hosts for renewable fuel and chemical production. They grow very quickly (compared with plants) and can use sunlight for energy and CO2 as a carbon source (unlike yeast or E. coli). While cyanobacteria have been engineered to make many chemicals that are native and non-native parts of their metabolism, this work is concerned with the production of heptadecane in Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803. Heptadecane is in a class of natural products produced by all cyanobacteria, but in quantities insufficient for industrialization. Towards this future goal, we have built enabling systems for the overproduction of fuels and chemicals in Synechocystis 6803 and cyanoabacteria generally. These tools include plasmid vectors for the overproduction of heterologous proteins and genome- scale metabolic models that can predict strategies for metabolite overproduction. We have shown that the vectors we developed are helpful in controlling the level and timing of heterologous protein expression using a fluorescent reporter, and have made progress towards heptadecane overproduction. During this process, we have also found that heptadecane is crucial for cold tolerance and modulates cyclic electron flow in photosynthesis. In addition to measuring this phenotype in vivo, we have analyzed it in silico using our genome-scale metabolic model and have gained insight into the role of cyclic electron flow in photosynthesis generally

C3a Enhances Nerve Growth Factor-Induced NFAT Activation and Chemokine Production in a Human Mast Cell Line, HMC-1

Activation of cell surface G protein-coupled receptors leads to transphosphorylation and activation of a number of receptor tyrosine kinases. Human mast cells express G protein-coupled receptors for the complement component C3a (C3aR) and high affinity nerve growth factor (NGF) receptor tyrosine kinase, TrkA. To determine whether C3a cross-regulates TrkA signaling and biological responses, we used a human mast cell-line, HMC-1, that natively expresses both receptors. We found that NGF caused tyrosine phosphorylation of TrkA, resulting in a sustained Ca2+ mobilization, NFAT activation, extracellular-signal regulated kinase (ERK) phosphorylation, and chemokine, macrophage inflammatory protein-1β (MIP-1β) production. In contrast, C3a induced a transient Ca2+ mobilization and ERK phosphorylation but failed to stimulate TrkA phosphorylation, NFAT activation, or MIP-1β production. Surprisingly, C3a significantly enhanced NGF-induced NFAT activation, ERK phosphorylation, and MIP-1β production. Pertussis toxin, a Gi/o inhibitor, selectively blocked priming by C3a but had no effect on NGF-induced responses. Mitogen-activated protein/ERK kinase inhibitor U0126 caused ∼30% inhibition of NGF-induced MIP-1β production but had no effect on priming by C3a. However, cyclosporin A, an inhibitor of calcineurin-mediated NFAT activation, caused substantial inhibition of NGF-induced MIP-1β production both in the absence and presence of C3a. These data demonstrate that NGF caused tyrosine phosphorylation of TrkA to induce chemokine production in HMC-1 cells via a pathway that mainly depends on sustained Ca2+ mobilization and NFAT activation. Furthermore, C3a enhances NGF-induced transcription factor activation and chemokine production via a G protein-mediated pathway that does not involve TrkA phosphorylation

Percepción del uso de estrategias en la comprensión lectora en los estudiantes del V ciclo de la institución educativa N° 20751 – Yauyos, 2022

La investigación tuvo como objetivo general identificar la incidencia de la percepción del uso de las estrategias en la comprensión lectora en los estudiantes del V ciclo de la Institución Educativa N° 20751 – Yauyos. La muestra de este estudio estuvo conformada por cincuenta estudiantes. Dichos estudiantes desarrollaron dos cuestionarios diferentes, estos fueron validados por expertos en la materia para certificar la obtención de resultados confiables. El estudio realizado fue cuantitativo, de tipo básico, con diseño no experimental, transversal y de nivel descriptivo - causal; asimismo, la técnica que se utilizó para la recolección de información fue la encuesta. El principal resultado obtenido fue que se encontró la existencia de una relación significativa de tipo positiva entre la percepción del uso de estrategias y la comprensión lectora en la medida que la percepción del uso de las estrategias influye en el desempeño de la comprensión lectora de los estudiantes del V ciclo de la Institución Educativa N° 20751 – Yauyos, 2022. Luego, también se obtuvo que el subrayado es la estrategia mejor desempeñada por los estudiantes y que estos se desempeñan mejor en la dimensión literal que en la inferencial o en la crítica. En conclusión, podemos afirmar que las estrategias que los estudiantes usan durante la lectura, está relacionada con el nivel de comprensión lectora que estos pueden obtener

Cyanobacterial Alkanes Modulate Photosynthetic Cyclic Electron Flow to Assist Growth under Cold Stress

All cyanobacterial membranes contain diesel-range C15-C19 hydrocarbons at concentrations similar to chlorophyll. Recently, two universal but mutually exclusive hydrocarbon production pathways in cyanobacteria were discovered. We engineered a mutant of Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 that produces no alkanes, which grew poorly at low temperatures. We analyzed this defect by assessing the redox kinetics of PSI. The mutant exhibited enhanced cyclic electron flow (CEF), especially at low temperature. CEF raises the ATP:NADPH ratio from photosynthesis and balances reductant requirements of biosynthesis with maintaining the redox poise of the electron transport chain. We conducted in silico flux balance analysis and showed that growth rate reaches a distinct maximum for an intermediate value of CEF equivalent to recycling 1 electron in 4 from PSI to the plastoquinone pool. Based on this analysis, we conclude that the lack of membrane alkanes causes higher CEF, perhaps for maintenance of redox poise. In turn, increased CEF reduces growth by forcing the cell to use less energy-efficient pathways, lowering the quantum efficiency of photosynthesis. This study highlights the unique and universal role of medium-chain hydrocarbons in cyanobacterial thylakoid membranes: they regulate redox balance and reductant partitioning in these oxygenic photosynthetic cells under stress

Cyanobacterial Alkanes Modulate Photosynthetic Cyclic Electron Flow to Assist Growth under Cold Stress

All cyanobacterial membranes contain diesel-range C15-C19 hydrocarbons at concentrations similar to chlorophyll. Recently, two universal but mutually exclusive hydrocarbon production pathways in cyanobacteria were discovered. We engineered a mutant of Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 that produces no alkanes, which grew poorly at low temperatures. We analyzed this defect by assessing the redox kinetics of PSI. The mutant exhibited enhanced cyclic electron flow (CEF), especially at low temperature. CEF raises the ATP:NADPH ratio from photosynthesis and balances reductant requirements of biosynthesis with maintaining the redox poise of the electron transport chain. We conducted in silico flux balance analysis and showed that growth rate reaches a distinct maximum for an intermediate value of CEF equivalent to recycling 1 electron in 4 from PSI to the plastoquinone pool. Based on this analysis, we conclude that the lack of membrane alkanes causes higher CEF, perhaps for maintenance of redox poise. In turn, increased CEF reduces growth by forcing the cell to use less energy-efficient pathways, lowering the quantum efficiency of photosynthesis. This study highlights the unique and universal role of medium-chain hydrocarbons in cyanobacterial thylakoid membranes: they regulate redox balance and reductant partitioning in these oxygenic photosynthetic cells under stress

Accurate local magnitude prediction for small to moderate earthquakes using rapid calculations of P-wave dominant period

This study examines mechanisms of rapid and accurate determination of local magnitude Mpd for small to moderate events that occurred in West Sulawesi and Central Sulawesi using direct procedures and calculations of the dominant period Td of P-waveforms. Secondary data were collected from Webdc3, comprising earthquake magnitudes in the regions of interest during 2008-2015 measured in MW. The study focuses on earthquake size estimates for local events as a parameter through simple evaluation of a linear equation relating Td to MW. For all the events considered, empirical formulas derived from the random data for estimating the size are, respectively, Mpd = (Td + 6.6799)/1.5199 for West Sulawesi and Mpd = (Td + 3.3648)/0.8464 for Central Sulawesi. Each was used to recalculate events in the two regions. The results were compared to the reference provided by the Global CMT catalog. The results are consistent with the reference having a standard deviation of up to 0.2, showing evidence of no significant difference in magnitude determination between the method proposed in the current study and that of the Global CMT. This suggests that rapid and accurate magnitude determination is best predicted by the empirical formula developed for each region in this study for future use of disaster risk reduction program

Aposentados que trabalham: fatores relacionados a permanência no mercado de trabalho / Retired workers: factors related to permanence in the labor market

A aposentadoria é comumente vista como o período de desvinculação do mundo do trabalho, contudo atualmente vem ocorrendo mudanças no paradigma da aposentadoria no Brasil. Por essa razão o presente estudo teve como objetivo conhecer os fatores intrínsecos e extrínsecos relacionados a permanência dos aposentados no mercado de trabalho e enfatizar a perspectiva da Terapia Ocupacional diante dessa realidade. Trata-se de um estudo exploratório de abordagem qualitativa, aplicando a técnica metodológica Bola de Neve com a participação de dez indivíduos. Foi utilizado uma entrevista semiestruturada sobre possíveis fatores que poderiam influenciar o aposentado a se manter ou voltar ao mercado de trabalho. Aplicou-se a análise de conteúdo para exploração dos resultados, onde se observou que os aposentados foram mais influenciados por fatores intrínsecos relacionados a produtividade, realização pessoal e a necessidade de convivência com outras pessoas. Os investigados permaneceram trabalhando porque, primeiramente, queriam se sentir produtivos e realizados, revelando um aspecto mais subjetivo do trabalho e apesar de apontarem os fatores extrínsecos de natureza econômica ou financeira como importantes, estes não foram considerados como fatores decisivos para continuarem no mercado de trabalho.  AbstractRetirement is commonly seen as the period of disconnection from the world of work, however, currently there are changes in the retirement paradigm in Brazil. For this reason, the present study aimed to understand the intrinsic and extrinsic factors related to the permanence of retirees in the labor market and to emphasize the perspective of Occupational Therapy in face of this reality. This is an exploratory study with a qualitative approach, applying the Snowball methodological technique with the participation of ten individuals. A semi-structured interview was used on possible factors that could influence the retiree to stay or return to the job market. Content analysis was applied to explore the results, where it was observed that retirees were more influenced by intrinsic factors related to productivity, personal fulfillment and the need to live with other people. The investigated remained working because, first, they wanted to feel productive and fulfilled, revealing a more subjective aspect of the work and despite pointing out the extrinsic factors of an economic or financial nature as important, these were not considered as decisive factors to remain in the labor market.Keywords: Retirement; Work; Occupational Therapy; Job Market. ResumenLa jubilación se considera comúnmente como el período de desconexión del mundo del trabajo, sin embargo, actualmente hay cambios en el paradigma de la jubilación en Brasil. Por esta razón, el presente estudio tuvo como objetivo comprender los factores intrínsecos y extrínsecos relacionados con la permanencia de jubilados en el mercado laboral y enfatizar la perspectiva de la Terapia Ocupacional frente a esta realidad. Es un estudio exploratorio con enfoque cualitativo, que aplica la técnica metodológica Bola de Nieve con la participación de diez individuos. Se utilizó una entrevista semiestructurada sobre posibles factores que podrían influir en el jubilado para quedarse o regresar al mercado laboral. El análisis de contenido se aplicó para explorar los resultados, donde se observó que los jubilados estaban más influenciados por factores intrínsecos relacionados con la productividad, la realización personal y la necesidad de vivir con otras personas. Los investigados siguieron trabajando porque, primero, querían sentirse productivos y realizados, revelando un aspecto más subjetivo del trabajo y, a pesar de señalar que los factores extrínsecos de naturaleza económica o financiera eran importantes, estos no fueron considerados como factores decisivos para permanecer en el mercado laboral.Palabras clave: Jubilación; Trabajo; Terapia Ocupacional; Mercado de Trabajo 

Compreensão de frases gramaticais com nível de especificidade e esquematicidade por pessoas com Alzheimer: uma análise psicolinguística e cognitiva.

The present research aimed at identifying if there is any compromisse regarding the comprehension in grammatical sentences at the level of specificity, through the self-paced reading technique, produced by people suffering from Alzheimer. With the objective of reaching our goals and finding answers to our hypotheses, one experiment was carried out to analyse: the time of reaction while reading the sentence, the time of reaction for reading the comprehension questions and choosing the best answer, and the score of right answers given by Young adults (YA) and healthy old (HO) taken as groups of control and the old with likely Alzheimer (OLA) as case group, considering sentences: at the level of schematicity and specificity. 10 YA, 10 HO and 10 OLA took part in the experiments, totalling thirty participants. Results show that, when compared to the old without cognitive decline, people suffering from Alzheimer presente inferior performance in comprehending conventional imagery when it comes to the rate of right answers and the time of response. As the result of the experiment, in relation to the level of specificity, people with Alzheimer need more time to read and give answers before schematic sentences, in which is also noticed the highest rate of wrong anwers. The hypothesis that the comprehension of conventional imagery in gramatical sentences at the level of specificity, is affected since the early stages of the Alzheimer disease was confirmed. We believe that this is influenced by the progressive cognitive decline of the working memory, by the speed of processing, by the decision making and also by the spacial and temporal orientation.Esta pesquisa objetivou identificar se, na doença de Alzheimer, existe comprometimento na compreensão de frases gramaticais no nível de especificidade, por meio da técnica de leitura automonitorada. No intuito de atingir nossos objetivos e respondermos nossas hipóteses, empreendemos um experimento para analisar: o tempo de reação na leitura da frase, o tempo de reação para leitura da pergunta de compreensão e escolha da resposta, e o índice de acerto nas perguntas de compreensão por adultos jovens (AJ) e idosos saudáveis (IS) como grupos controle, e idosos com provável Alzheimer (IPAI/IPAM) como grupo caso, considerando frases no nível de especificidade e esquematicidade. Participaram da aplicação dos experimentos, 10 AJ, 10 IS e 10 IPAI/IPAM, totalizando uma amostra de 30 sujeitos. Os resultados apontam que a pessoa com Alzheimer apresenta desempenho inferior na compreensão da imagética convencional, em termos de índice de acertos e de tempo de resposta, quando comparados com idosos sem declínio cognitivo. Como resultado do experimento, com relação ao nível de Especificidade, as pessoas com Alzheimer demandam maior tempo na leitura e em dar respostas em frases de esquematicidade, nas quais também se observa maior índice de erro nas respostas. Confirmou-se então a hipótese de que a compreensão da imagética convencional em frases gramaticais no nível de especificidade, estão afetadas desde os estágios iniciais da doença de Alzheimer, e acreditamos que seja influenciada pelo declínio cognitivo progressivo da memória de trabalho, da velocidade de processamento, da tomada de decisão e da orientação temporal e espacial