Electronic control/display interface technology

An effort to produce a representative workstation for the Space Station Data Management Test Bed that provides man/machine interface design options for consolidating, automating, and integrating the space station work station, and hardware/software technology demonstrations of space station applications is discussed. The workstation will emphasize the technologies of advanced graphics engines, advanced display/control medias, image management techniques, multifunction controls, and video disk utilizations

WITHIN SUBJECT VARIABILITY ANALYSIS REVEALS A TRANSITION POINT FOR THE LONGSWING ACROSS AGE GROUPS

This research aimed to observe changes in the within subject variability of the longswing performance and coordination across age groups in gymnasts divided by their competition level, from younger (group 1) to experts (group 5). Data were collected by two video cameras. Performance and coordinative within subject variability were calculated by the standard deviation (inter-trial variability) and the deviation phase (intra-trial variability). Results only showed significant group differences for within subject variability (inter- and intra-trial) in the SD P3H-P3S. In addition, group 4 (14.78±0.57 yrs) showed both large inter-trial variability in the upswing shoulder flexion (P3) and large intra-trial variability during hip and shoulder extension (P2) and P3. Such large variability in group 4 suggests a transition point towards the experts´ performance and coordination (19.96±3.37 yrs)

PRACTICE AND TALENT EFFECTS IN SWING HIGH BAR INTER-JOINT COORDINATION OF NOVICE ADULTS

This research describes changes in movement coordination after a two-month practice period of the swing on high bar in a novice cohort, which was divided by a-priory talent level into two groups: spontaneous-talented, ST, and non-spontaneous-talented, NST. Their performance was also compared with experienced gymnasts. Data were collected during pre- and post-practice sessions by two video cameras. Coordination between hip and shoulder joints was assessed. Results showed a similar practice effect in the swing enlargements in both novice groups. Interestingly, the ST group’s inter-joint coordination variables on the downswing improved more than those of the NST group due to practice. Therefore, the two novice groups improved performance, but they showed diferent local coordination. Initial talent helped to improve both performance and coordination in the down-swing

Erratum: “Seed layer technique for high quality epitaxial manganite films” [AIP Advances 6, 085109 (2016)]

No abstract available

Dominance of unicellular cyanobacteria in the diazotrophic community in the Atlantic Ocean

ABSTRACT: The horizontal and vertical distribution of representatives of diazotrophic unicellular cyanobacteria was investigated in the subtropical northeast Atlantic Ocean (28.87 to 42.00°N; 9.01 to 20.02°W). Samples from stations encompassing different water conditions (from oceanic oligotrophic waters to upwelling areas and a temperature range of 13.1°C to 24.2°C) were size fractionated and analyzed for nifH by a nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and by tyramide signal amplification–fluorescence in situ hybridization (TSA-FISH) using probe Nitro821. In samples from the surface, mixed-layer depth, and deep chlorophyll maximum waters, most (> 50%) of the nifH recovered was from the 0.2–3 µm fraction and was consistent with TSA-FISH counts. The < 3 µm Nitro821-positive cells were more abundant than the larger cells, and the proportion of single cells was larger than that associated with particulate matter or with larger cells. Phylogenetic analysis of representative samples revealed that most of the sequences belong to diazotrophic unicellular cyanobacteria Group A (UCYN-A or Candidatus Atelocyanobacterium thalassa). N2 fixation in the 0.2–3 µm fraction, putatively representing the activity of UCYN-A, contributed more than 50% of the total N2 fixation. There was a positive relationship of this putative UCYN-A abundance and activity with temperature, and a negative relationship with dissolved O2. The dominance of these putative UCYN-A organisms in nitrate-rich upwelling filament regions suggests that the activity of this group of organisms may not be strongly controlled by the availability of fixed N

Advance directives and real-world end-of-life clinical practice : a case-control study

Background Advance directives (ADs) have been legally regulated to promote autonomy over health decisions among patients who later lose decision-making capacity. Aims and objectives To analyse the differences in clinical practice at end of life among people who had completed an AD versus those who had not. Methods Retrospective case-control study (1:2), matched by age, sex, year, cause of death and region of residence. The data sources used were the ADs registry, central registry of insured persons, hospital discharge, pharmacy and billing databases, and the mortality registry. Conditional logistic regression models (crude and adjusted by socioeconomic level) were performed. The outcome variable was the frequency of medical procedures performed during the last year of life. Results 1723 people with ADs who died in Catalonia during 2014-2015 were matched with 3446 dead controls (without ADs). Thoracentesis was the procedure with the greatest reduction among women with an AD (adjusted OR (OR adj) 0.54, 95% CI: 0.32 to 0.89) in conjunction with artificial nutrition (OR adj 0.54, 95% CI: 0.31 to 0.95). Intubation was the procedure with the greatest reduction (OR adj 0.56, 95% CI: 0.33 to 0.94) among men. Slight differences could be seen in the case of cancer deaths. There were no relevant differences when adjusting by socioeconomic level. Conclusions ADs are an effective tool to adjust the realisation of some procedures at end of life. These results can help better plan for the treatment of patients with ADs, as well as increase the awareness among clinical personnel, families and the general population

Self-recognition and Ca2+-dependent carbohydrate–carbohydrate cell adhesion provide clues to the Cambrian explosion

Author Posting. © The Authors, 2009. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of Oxford University Press for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Molecular Biology and Evolution 26 (2009): 2551-2561, doi:10.1093/molbev/msp170.The Cambrian explosion of life was a relatively short period ca. 540 million years ago that marked a generalized acceleration in the evolution of most animal phyla, but the trigger of this key biological event remains elusive. Sponges are the oldest extant Precambrian metazoan phylum and thus a valid model to study factors that could have unleashed the rise of multicellular animals. One such factor is the advent of self/non-self recognition systems, which would be evolutionarily beneficial to organisms to prevent germ cell parasitism or the introduction of deleterious mutations resulting from fusion with genetically different individuals. However, the molecules responsible for allorecognition probably evolved gradually before the Cambrian period, and some other (external) factor remains to be identified as the missing triggering event. Sponge cells associate through calcium-dependent, multivalent carbohydrate-carbohydrate interactions of the g200 glycan found on extracellular proteoglycans. Single molecule force spectroscopy analysis of g200-g200 binding indicates that calcium affects the lifetime (+Ca/-Ca: 680 s/3 s) and bond reaction length (+Ca/-Ca: 3.47 Å/2.27 Å). Calculation of mean g200 dissociation times in low and high calcium within the theoretical framework of a cooperative binding model indicates the non-linear and divergent characteristics leading to either disaggregated cells or stable multicellular assemblies, respectively. This fundamental phenomenon can explain a switch from weak to strong adhesion between primitive metazoan cells caused by the well documented rise in ocean calcium levels at the end of Precambrian time. We propose that stronger cell adhesion allowed the integrity of genetically uniform animals composed only of “self” cells, facilitating genetic constitutions to remain within the metazoan individual and be passed down inheritance lines. The Cambrian explosion might have been triggered by the coincidence in time of primitive animals endowed with self/non-self recognition, and of a surge in sea water calcium that increased the binding forces between their calcium-dependent cell adhesion molecules.D.A. and A.K. acknowledge financial support from the Collaborative Research Center SFB 613 from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG), and X.F.-B. acknowledges financial support from grants BIO2002-00128, BIO2005-01591, and CSD2006-00012 from the Ministerio de Ciencia y Tecnología, Spain, which included Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional funds, and from grant 2005SGR-00037 from the Generalitat de Catalunya, Spain

Loading of beclomethasone in liposomes and hyalurosomes improved with mucin as effective approach to counteract the oxidative stress generated by cigarette smoke extract

In this work beclomethasone dipropionate was loaded into liposomes and hyalurosomes modified with mucin to improve the ability of the payload to counteract the oxidative stress and involved damages caused by cigarette smoke in the airway. The vesicles were prepared by dispersing all components in the appropriate vehicle and sonicating them, thus avoiding the use of organic solvents. Unilamellar and bilamellar vesicles small in size (~117 nm), homogeneously dispersed (polydispersity index lower than 0.22) and negatively charged (~−11 mV), were obtained. Moreover, these vesicle dispersions were stable for five months at room temperature (~25◦C). In vitro studies performed using the Next Generation Impactor confirmed the suitability of the formulations to be nebulized as they were capable of reaching the last stages of the impactor that mimic the deeper airways, thus improving the deposition of beclomethasone in the target site. Further, biocompatibility studies performed by using 16HBE bronchial epithelial cells confirmed the high biocompatibility and safety of all the vesicles. Among the tested formulations, only mucin-hyalurosomes were capable of effectively counteracting the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) induced by cigarette smoke extract, suggesting that this formulation may represent a promising tool to reduce the damaging effects of cigarette smoke in the lung tissues, thus reducing the pathogenesis of cigarette smoke-associated diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, emphysema, and cancer

¿Es realmente fiable la evaluación no individualizada en el trabajo cooperativo?

Se presentan y discuten los resultados de una experiencia de trabajo cooperativo empleando la plataforma BSCW en alumnos de la titulación de Maestro de Educación Infantil de la Universidad de Barcelona, con el fin de detectar posibles sesgos de las coevaluaciones y las autoevaluaciones, y para valorar la incidencia que tienen los comportamientos disruptivos en el proceso cooperativo de evaluación. Los resultados muestran que el alumnado es honesto en las calificaciones que otorga, y que los comportamientos disruptivos detectados en los distintos grupos de trabajo cooperativo, causados por una baja ciudadanía de equipo, no tienen una incidencia significativa en las calificaciones otorgadas por el grupo clase. Por tanto, se legitiman las coevaluaciones y las autoevaluaciones como instrumentos fiables de evaluación en un contexto de trabajo cooperativo

Pentacene thin films on ferromagnetic oxide: Growth mechanism and spintronic devices

[EN] Cation-exchange membranes made exclusively from ceramic materials have been synthesized by means of the impregnation of microporous ceramic supports with zirconium phosphate. Changes in the pore size distribution and total pore volume of the supports were provoked by the addition of starch as pore former in the fabrication procedure. This allowed the production of supports with increased effective electrical conductivities and with larger pores available for the zirconium phosphate deposition. An improved functionality for the exchange of cations was given to the ceramic membranes by means of their impregnation with the active particles of zirconium phosphate. The ion-exchange properties of the membranes were increased with further impregnation cycles and the resulting current–voltage curves showed a similar shape to that typical of commercial polymeric ion-exchange membranes. The production of ionexchange membranes with increased chemical and radiation stability will broaden their applicability for the treatment of specific industrial waste waters, which are very aggressive for the current commercial ion-exchange membranes.The authors acknowledge the technical help from Federico Bona at CNR-ISMN in Bologna and the extensive use of the scanning probe microscopes at "Centro Interfacolta Misure" of the University of Parma. Financial support from the FP7 Projects NMP-2010-SMALL-4-263104 (HINTS), NMP3-SL-2010-246073 (GRENADA), and NMP3-LA-2010-246102 (IFOX) is acknowledged.Graziosi, P.; Riminucci, A.; Prezioso, M.; Newby, C.; Brunel, D.; Bergenti, I.; Pullini, D.... (2014). Pentacene thin films on ferromagnetic oxide: Growth mechanism and spintronic devices. Applied Physics Letters. 105(2):1-5. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4890328S15105