Computational analysis of the behavior of atmospheric pollution due to demographic, structural factors, vehicular flow and commerce activities

According to the latest assessments made by the world health organization (WHO2016), the atmospheric pollution (air), has become one of the main causes of morbidity and mortality in the world, with a steep growth of respiratory diseases, increase in lung cancer, ocular complications, and dermis diseases [1,2,3]. Currently, there are governments which still underestimate investments in environmental care, turning their countries into only consumers and predators of the ecosystem [1,2,3]. Worldwide, several cities have been implementing different regional strategies to decrease environmental pollution, however, these actions have not been effective enough and significant indices of contamination and emergency declarations persist [1,2,3]. Medellín is one of the cities most affected by polluting gases in Latin America due to the high growth of construction sector, high vehicular flow, increase in commerce, besides a little assertive planting trees system, among other reasons [1,2,3]. With the purpose of providing new researching elements which benefit the improvement of air quality in the cities of the world, it is pretended to mathematically model and computationally implement the behavior of the flow of air, e.g., in zones in the city of Medellín to determine the extent of pollution by tightness, impact of current architectural designs, vehicular transport, high commerce flow, and confinement in the public transport system. The simulations allowed to identify spotlights of particulate tightness caused by architectural designs of the city which do not benefit air flow. Also, recirculating gases were observed in different zones of the city. This research can offer greater knowledge around the incidence of pollution generated by structures and architecture. Likewise, these studies can contribute to a better urban, structural and ecological reordering in cities, the implementation of an assertive arborization system, and the possibility to orientate effective strategies over cleaning (purification) and contaminant extracting systems

A generalized empirical interpolation method : application of reduced basis techniques to data assimilation

In an effort to extend the classical lagrangian interpolation tools, new interpolating methods that use general interpolating functions are explored. The method analyzed in this paper, called Generalized Empirical Interpolation Method (GEIM), belongs to this class of new techniques. It generalizes the plain Empirical Interpolation Method by replacing the evaluation at interpolating points by application of a class of interpolating linear functions. The paper is divided into two parts: first, the most basic properties of GEIM (such as the well-posedness of the generalized interpolation problem that is derived) will be analyzed. On a second part, a numerical example will illustrate how GEIM, if considered from a reduced basis point of view, can be used for the real-time reconstruction of experiments by coupling data assimilation with numerical simulations in a domain decomposition framework

Análise de componentes principais no estudo da diversidade genética de caprinos.

Analisou-se dados biométricos de raças exóticas Toggenbourg, Saanen, Anglonubiana, Alpina e Boer. No Marrocos, foram amostrados caprinos locais Drâa, Zagora e Rhâali. Mensurou-se altura de cernelha (AC), altura da maçã do peito ao chão (AP) e comprimento de orelha (CO). A profundidade torácica foi calculada (AC-AP) e foram estabelecidos índices entre duas medidas corporais. As variáveis foram submetidas à análise de componentes principais (ACP) através do programa SAS v. 9.0. Do total de sete componentes, os dois primeiros foram suficientes para acumular 74,87% da variância total dos dados. Na representação gráfica da distribuição dos indivíduos, observou-se que Toggebourg, Saanen e Alpina ocuparam apenas os quadrantes esquerdos e Zagora apenas nos quadrantes direitos. Drâa ocupou os quadrantes superiores. Apresentaram menos identidade as populações de Rhâali, Boer e Anglo-nubiana, cujos indivíduos se dispersaram entre ambos os quadrantes inferiores e o superior direito. Estes resultados estão de acordo com o histórico e a distribuição geográfica das raças, alertam para a necessidade de outros estudos sobre os caprinos marroquinos. Os resultados da ACP foram consistentes, permitindo preconizá-la como uma técnica auxiliar em estudos futuros

Microbial ligand costimulation drives neutrophilic steroid-refractory asthma

Funding: The authors thank the Wellcome Trust (102705) and the Universities of Aberdeen and Cape Town for funding. This research was also supported, in part, by National Institutes of Health GM53522 and GM083016 to DLW. KF and BNL are funded by the Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek, BNL is the recipient of an European Research Commission consolidator grant and participates in the European Union FP7 programs EUBIOPRED and MedALL. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Mechanical design report of the barrel liquid argon presampler

The note describes the mechanical design of the Atlas barrel presampler and its evolution since the publication of thecalorimeter TDR in December 9

IL-22 contributes to TGF-β1-mediated epithelial-mesenchymal transition in asthmatic bronchial epithelial cells

Background: Allergic asthma is characterized by airway inflammation in response to antigen exposure, leading to airway remodeling and lung dysfunction. Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) may play a role in airway remodeling through the acquisition of a mesenchymal phenotype in airway epithelial cells. TGF-β1 is known to promote EMT; however, other cytokines expressed in severe asthma with extensive remodeling, such as IL-22, may also contribute to this process. In this study, we evaluated the contribution of IL-22 to EMT in primary bronchial epithelial cells from healthy and asthmatic subjects.Methods: Primary bronchial epithelial cells were isolated from healthy subjects, mild asthmatics and severe asthmatics (n=5 patients per group). The mRNA and protein expression of epithelial and mesenchymal cell markers and EMT-associated transcription factors was evaluated following stimulation with TGF-β1, IL-22 and TGF-β1+IL-22.Results: Primary bronchial epithelial cells stimulated with TGF-β1 underwent EMT, demonstrated by decreased expression of epithelial markers (E-cadherin and MUC5AC) and increased expression of mesenchymal markers (N-cadherin and vimentin) and EMT-associated transcription factors. IL-22 alone had no effect on epithelial or mesenchymal gene expression. However, IL-22+TGF-β1 promoted the expression of some EMT transcription factors (Snail1 and Zeb1) and led to a more profound cadherin shift, but only in cells obtained from severe asthmatics.Conclusion: The impact of IL-22 on airway epithelial cells depends on the cytokine milieu and the clinical phenotype of the patient. Further studies are required to determine the molecular mechanism of IL-22 and TGF-β1 cooperativity in driving EMT in primary human bronchial epithelial cells