Water-related ecosystems' mapping and assessment based on remote sensing techniques and geospatial analysis: The SWOS national service case of the Greek Ramsar sites and their catchments

Water-related ecosystems' mapping and assessment based on remote sensing techniques and geospatial analysis: The SWOS national service case of the Greek Ramsar sites and their catchments. Remote Sensing of Environment 245 (2020) 111795. doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2020.11179

Molecular cytogenetic characterisation of a mosaic add(12)(p13.3) with an inv dup(3)(q26.31 --> qter) detected in an autistic boy

BACKGROUND: Inverted duplications (inv dup) of a terminal chromosome region are a particular subset of rearrangements that often results in partial tetrasomy or partial trisomy when accompanied by a deleted chromosome. Associated mosaicism could be the consequence of a post-zygotic event or could result from the correction of a trisomic conception. Tetrasomies of distal segments of the chromosome 3q are rare genetic events and their phenotypic manifestations are diverse. To our knowledge, there are only 12 cases reported with partial 3q tetrasomy. Generally, individuals with this genomic imbalance present mild to severe developmental delay, facial dysmorphisms and skin pigmentary disorders. RESULTS: We present the results of the molecular cytogenetic characterization of an unbalanced mosaic karyotype consisting of mos 46,XY,add(12)(p13.3) [56]/46,XY [44] in a previously described 11 years old autistic boy, re-evaluated at adult age. The employment of fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) and multicolor banding (MCB) techniques identified the extra material on 12p to be derived from chromosome 3, defining the additional material on 12p as an inv dup(3)(qter --> q26.3::q26.3 --> qter). Subsequently, array-based comparative genomic hybridization (aCGH) confirmed the breakpoint at 3q26.31, defining the extra material with a length of 24.92 Mb to be between 174.37 and 199.29 Mb. CONCLUSION: This is the thirteenth reported case of inversion-duplication 3q, being the first one described as an inv dup translocated onto a non-homologous chromosome. The mosaic terminal inv dup(3q) observed could be the result of two proposed alternative mechanisms. The most striking feature of this case is the autistic behavior of the proband, a characteristic not shared by any other patient with tetrasomy for 3q26.31 --> 3qter. The present work further illustrates the advantages of the use of an integrative cytogenetic strategy, composed both by conventional and molecular techniques, on providing powerful information for an accurate diagnosis. This report also highlights a chromosome region potentially involved in autistic disorders

In Solidarity

This edition of Next Page is a departure from our usual question and answer format with a featured campus reader. Instead, we asked speakers who participated in the College’s recent Student Solidarity Rally (March 1, 2017) to recommend readings that might further our understanding of the topics on which they spoke

Pion Cloud Contribution to K+ Nucleus Scattering

A careful reanalysis is done of the contribution to $K^{+}$ nucleus scattering from the interaction of the kaon with the virtual pion cloud. The usual approximations made in the evaluation of the related kaon selfenergy are shown to fail badly. We also find new interaction mechanisms which provide appreciable corrections to the kaon selfenergy. Some of these contribute to the imaginary part below pion creation threshold. The inclusion of these new mechanisms in the inelastic part of the optical potential produces a significant improvement in the differential and total $K^{+}$ nuclear cross sections. Uncertainties remain in the dispersive part of the optical potential.Comment: 27 pages, 17 figures (not all of them included, please request them), report UG-DFM-2/9

Interpolation of tracking data in a fluid environment

Interpolation of geolocation or Argos tracking data is a necessity for habitat use analyses of marine vertebrates. In a fluid marine environment, characterized by curvilinear structures, linearly interpolated track data are not realistic. Based on these two facts, we interpolated tracking data from albatrosses, penguins, boobies, sea lions, fur seals and elephant seals using six mathematical algorithms. Given their popularity in mathematical computing, we chose Bézier, hermite and cubic splines, in addition to a commonly used linear algorithm to interpolate data. Performance of interpolation methods was compared with different temporal resolutions representative of the less-precise geolocation and the more-precise Argos tracking techniques. Parameters from interpolated sub-sampled tracks were compared with those obtained from intact tracks. Average accuracy of the interpolated location was not affected by the interpolation method and was always within the precision of the tracking technique used. However, depending on the species tested, some curvilinear interpolation algorithms produced greater occurrences of more accurate locations, compared with the linear interpolation method. Total track lengths were consistently underestimated but were always more accurate using curvilinear interpolation than linear interpolation. Curvilinear algorithms are safe to use because accuracy, shape and length of the tracks are either not different or are slightly enhanced and because analyses always remain conservative. The choice of the curvilinear algorithm does not affect the resulting track dramatically so it should not preclude their use. We thus recommend using curvilinear interpolation techniques because of the more realistic fluid movements of animals. We also provide some guidelines for choosing an algorithm that is most likely to maximize track quality for different types of marine vertebrates

Chiral symmetry and quantum hadro-dynamics

Using the linear sigma model, we study the evolutions of the quark condensate and of the nucleon mass in the nuclear medium. Our formulation of the model allows the inclusion of both pion and scalar-isoscalar degrees of freedom. It guarantees that the low energy theorems and the constrains of chiral perturbation theory are respected. We show how this formalism incorporates quantum hadro-dynamics improved by the pion loops effects.Comment: 24 pages, 2 figure

New method of studying slow strange meson properties in nuclear matter

We suggest the new experimental method to explore the properties of slow strange mesons at normal nuclear matter density. We show that the $K^{+}$ and $K^{-}$ mesons with extremely small momenta relative to the surrounding medium rest frame can be produced in nucleus-nucleon collisions and their production cross sections are experimentally measurable. The experiments on study of the momentum dependence of meson-nuclear potentials are discussed.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure

Relationship between propagule pressure and colonization pressure in invasion ecology: a test with ships' ballast

Increasing empirical evidence indicates the number of released individuals (i.e. propagule pressure) and number of released species (i.e. colonization pressure) are key determinants of the number of species that successfully invade new habitats. In view of these relationships, and the possibility that ships transport whole communities of organisms, we collected 333 ballast water and sediment samples to investigate the relationship between propagule and colonization pressure for a variety of diverse taxonomic groups (diatoms, dinoflagellates and invertebrates). We also reviewed the scientific literature to compare the number of species transported by ships to those reported in nature. Here, we show that even though ships transport nearly entire local communities, a strong relationship between propagule and colonization pressure exists only for dinoflagellates. Our study provides evidence that colonization pressure of invertebrates and diatoms may fluctuate widely irrespective of propagule pressure. We suggest that the lack of correspondence is explained by reduced uptake of invertebrates into the transport vector and the sensitivity of invertebrates and diatoms to selective pressures during transportation. Selection during transportation is initially evident through decreases in propagule pressure, followed by decreased colonization pressure in the most sensitive taxa

Thermodynamics of the PNJL model

QCD thermodynamics is investigated by means of the Polyakov-loop-extended Nambu Jona-Lasinio (PNJL) model, in which quarks couple simultaneously to the chiral condensate and to a background temporal gauge field representing Polyakov loop dynamics. The behaviour of the Polyakov loop as a function of temperature is obtained by minimizing the thermodynamic potential of the system. A Taylor series expansion of the pressure is performed. Pressure difference and quark number density are then evaluated up to sixth order in quark chemical potential, and compared to the corresponding lattice data. The validity of the Taylor expansion is discussed within our model, through a comparison between the full results and the truncated ones.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures, Talk given at the Workshop for Young Scientists on the Physics of Ultrarelativistic Nucleus-Nucleus Collisions (Hot Quarks 2006), Villasimius, Italy, 15-20 May 200

Multi-rendezvous Spacecraft Trajectory Optimization with Beam P-ACO

The design of spacecraft trajectories for missions visiting multiple celestial bodies is here framed as a multi-objective bilevel optimization problem. A comparative study is performed to assess the performance of different Beam Search algorithms at tackling the combinatorial problem of finding the ideal sequence of bodies. Special focus is placed on the development of a new hybridization between Beam Search and the Population-based Ant Colony Optimization algorithm. An experimental evaluation shows all algorithms achieving exceptional performance on a hard benchmark problem. It is found that a properly tuned deterministic Beam Search always outperforms the remaining variants. Beam P-ACO, however, demonstrates lower parameter sensitivity, while offering superior worst-case performance. Being an anytime algorithm, it is then found to be the preferable choice for certain practical applications.Comment: Code available at https://github.com/lfsimoes/beam_paco__gtoc