A parallel algorithm for solving the incompressible Navier-Stokes problems

AbstractWe introduce and analyze a parallel algorithm for solving the Navier-Stokes equations based on the splitting of the two main difficulties involved, the presence of nonlinear terms and the zero divergence condition. The numerical results obtained by using the proposed algorithm are quite consistent with those furnished by other known algorithms. Numerical results are discussed, as well as the advantages of this new algorithm

Pro-tobacco marketing and anti-tobacco campaigns aimed at vulnerable populations: A review of the literature.

INTRODUCTION:We reviewed research literature on pro-tobacco marketing and anti-tobacco campaigns targeting eight vulnerable populations to determine key findings and research gaps. Results can inform tobacco policy and control efforts and the design of public education campaigns for these groups. METHODS:Five journal databases in medicine, communication, and science, were used to identify 8875 peer-reviewed, original articles in English, published in the period 2004-2018. There were 144 articles that met inclusion criteria on pro-tobacco marketing or anti-tobacco campaigns aimed at eight US groups: women of reproductive age, racial/ethnic minority groups (African American, Hispanic/Latino, Asian/Pacific Islander and American Indian/Alaska Native), Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender (LGBT) populations, groups with low socioeconomic status, rural/inner city residents, military/veterans, and people with mental health or medical co-morbidities. We summarized the number of articles for each population, type of tobacco, and pro-tobacco or anti-tobacco focus. Narrative summaries were organized by population and by pro-tobacco or anti-tobacco focus, with key strategies and gaps by group. RESULTS:There were more studies on pro-tobacco marketing rather than anti-tobacco campaigns, and on cigarettes rather than other tobacco products. Major gaps included studies on Asian Americans, American Indian/Alaska Natives, pregnant women, LGBT populations, and those with mental health or medical co-morbidities. Gaps related to tobacco products were found for hookah, snus, and pipe/roll-your-own tobacco in the pro-tobacco studies, and for all products except cigarettes in anti-tobacco studies. Common tobacco industry methods used were tailoring of product and package design and messages that were used to reach and appeal to different sociodemographic groups. Studies varied by research design making it difficult to compare results. CONCLUSIONS:We found major research gaps for specific groups and tobacco products. Public education campaigns need a stronger foundation in empirical studies focused on these populations. Research and practice would benefit from studies that permit comparisons across studies

Pharmacological and partial biochemical characterization of Bmaj-9 isolated from Bothrops marajoensis snake venom

Bmaj-9, a basic PLA2 (13679.33 Da), was isolated from Bothrops marajoensis snake venom through only one chromatographic step in reversed phase HPLC on ¼-Bondapak C-18 column. The amino acid composition showed that Bmaj-9 had a high content of Lys, His, and Arg, typical of a basic PLA2. The sequence of Bmaj-9 contains 124 amino acid residues with a pI value of 8.55, such as DLWQWGQMIL KETGKLPFSY YTAYGCYCGW GGRGGKPKAD TDRCCFVHDC, revealing a high homology with Asp49 PLA2 from other snake venoms. It also exhibited a pronounced phospholipase A2 activity when compared with crude venom. In chick biventer cervicis preparations, the time for 50% and 100% neuromuscular paralysis was respectively (in minutes): 110 ± 10 (1 µg/mL); 40 ± 6 and 90 ± 2 (5 µg/mL); 30 ± 3 and 70 ± 5 (10 µg/mL); 42 ± 1 and 60 ± 2 (20 µg/mL), with no effect on the contractures elicited by either exogenous ACh (110 µM) or KCl (20 mM). Bmaj-9 (10 µg/mL) neither interfered with the muscular response to direct electrical stimulation in curarized preparations nor significantly altered the release of CK at 0, 15, 30 and 60 minutes incubations (27.4 ± 5, 74.2 ± 8, 161.0 ± 21 and 353.0 ± 47, respectively). The histological analysis showed that, even causing blockade at the maximum dosage (5 µg/mL), the toxin does not induce significant morphological alterations such as necrosis or infiltration of inflammatory cells. These results identified Bmaj-9 as a new member of the basic Asp49 PLA2 family able to interact with the motor nerve terminal membrane, thereby inducing a presynaptic neuromuscular blockade181627

Public Knowledge Regarding Adaptation and Mitigation Measures against Climate Change in Lima, Peru

Climate change is a current and globally significant issue. Many countries are working together with international agreements, developing strategies to mitigate the impacts it can generate. In Peru, public knowledge regarding climate change adaptation and mitigation measures has been a topic of great national interest but is also somewhat unknown or outdated. The aim of this study was to assess people's level of understanding regarding this subject. The methodology employed was quantitative, using surveys administered to citizens to analyze their perceptions of climate change measures. The results revealed that almost 80% of them have received information about climate change, but 95.9% think that climate change is real, so above 15% of the participants even without getting information about this global issue have a notion about it, 36.6% of the participants did not know about the Peruvian participation in the Paris Agreements as well as the Peruvian law of climate change where around 30% of surveyed are not aware of the regulation gave by Peruvian law, above of 60% of the participants did not know about Peruvian initiatives and actions linked to those measures. Lastly, above 60% of the participants think they are not involved in the adaptation and mitigation process. Also, above 90% of the participants have perceived a temperature rise. Finally, it is advisable to analyze the awareness programs implemented by the government to convey information about climate change adaptation and mitigation measures and keep studying regarding local-level climate change awareness

Ubiquitous neurocognitive dysfunction in familial adenomatous polyposis: proof-of-concept of the role of APC protein in neurocognitive function

Background: Familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP) is an autosomal dominant disorder caused by germline mutations in the APC gene. Patients with FAP have multiple extraintestinal manifestations that follow a genotype-phenotype pattern; however, few data exist characterizing their cognitive abilities. Given the role of the APC protein in development of the central nervous system, we hypothesized that patients with FAP would show differences in cognitive functioning compared to controls. Methods: Matched case-control study designed to evaluate cognitive function using the Test of Nonverbal Intelligence-4, the Bateria III Woodcock-Munoz, and the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Functions-Adult. Twenty-six individuals with FAP (mean age = 34.2 +/- 15.0 years) and 25 age-gender and educational level matched controls (mean age = 32.7 +/- 13.8 years) were evaluated. Results: FAP-cases had significantly lower IQ (p = 0.005). Across all tasks of the Bateria III Woodcock-Munoz, FAP-cases performed significantly lower than controls, with all of the summary scores falling in the bottom quartile compared to controls (p \u3c 0.0001). Patients with FAP scored within the deficient range for Long-Term Retrieval and Cognitive Fluency. Conclusion: APC protein has an important role in neurocognitive function. The pervasive nature of the observed cognitive dysfunction suggests that loss or dysfunction of the APC protein impacts processes in cortical and subcortical brain regions. Additional studies examining larger ethnically diverse cohorts with FAP are warranted

Relationship between the isometric force of the dominant hand and the Body Mass Index of university students

INTRODUCTION: Strength is the neuromuscular capacity to overcome or counter resistances through muscular activity and is closely linked to all the motor actions that the human being develops, and to his body mass index. OBJECTIVE: To determine the level of correlation between body mass index (BMI) and the isometric strength of the dominant hand of university students. METHOD: The strength was evaluated with a TAKEI SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENT 5401 dynamometer to 70 university students using a random sampling method using a descriptive transactional design. We obtained data that were processed with a bivariate correlation obtaining the Pearson coefficient. We used SPSS ver. 15. RESULTS: The studied age was 23 ± 1.9 years, with a length of 165.6 cm. ± 7.72 for women and 173.7 cm. ± 7.95 men, as well as a weight in women of 64.1 ± 14.82 kg and men 82.3 ± 14.72 kg, which results in a BMI for women of 25.01 ± 4.405 m2/kg and 25.06 with ± 4.398 m2/kg for men. On the other hand, the female isometry strength was 3.08. ± 0.613 Kg and for men was 3.68 ± 0.839 Kg. In females, there was not correlation between the BMI and isometric strength (Sig = .192). Contrary, in males, there was a significant and negative correlation grade between the BMI and isometric strength (r = -0,452; Sig. = 0.035). CONCLUSIONS: In this study, it was observed that as BMI increases, strength does not grow. Therefore, other variables should be evaluated to understand what is related to the overweight or obesity of students

Discrete molecular dynamics simulations of peptide aggregation

We study the aggregation of peptides using the discrete molecular dynamics simulations. At temperatures above the alpha-helix melting temperature of a single peptide, the model peptides aggregate into a multi-layer parallel beta-sheet structure. This structure has an inter-strand distance of 0.48 nm and an inter-sheet distance of 1.0 nm, which agree with experimental observations. In this model, the hydrogen bond interactions give rise to the inter-strand spacing in beta-sheets, while the Go interactions among side chains make beta-strands parallel to each other and allow beta-sheets to pack into layers. The aggregates also contain free edges which may allow for further aggregation of model peptides to form elongated fibrils.Comment: 15 pages, 8 figure

A novel combined scientific and artistic approach for the advanced characterization of interactomes: The akirin/subolesin model

The main objective of this study was to propose a novel methodology to approach challenges in molecular biology. Akirin/Subolesin (AKR/SUB) are vaccine protective antigens and are a model for the study of the interactome due to its conserved function in the regulation of different biological processes such as immunity and development throughout the metazoan. Herein, three visual artists and a music professor collaborated with scientists for the functional characterization of the AKR2 interactome in the regulation of the NF-¿B pathway in human placenta cells. The results served as a methodological proof-of-concept to advance this research area. The results showed new perspectives on unexplored characteristics of AKR2 with functional implications. These results included protein dimerization, the physical interactions with different proteins simultaneously to regulate various biological processes defined by cell type-specific AKR– protein interactions, and how these interactions positively or negatively regulate the nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells (NF-¿B) signaling pathway in a biological context-dependent manner. These results suggested that AKR2-interacting proteins might constitute suitable secondary transcription factors for cell-and stimulus-specific regulation of NF-¿B. Musical perspective supported AKR/SUB evolutionary conservation in different species and provided new mechanistic insights into the AKR2 interactome. The combined scientific and artistic perspectives resulted in a multidisciplinary approach, advancing our knowledge on AKR/SUB interactome, and provided new insights into the function of AKR2–protein interactions in the regulation of the NF-¿B pathway. Additionally, herein we proposed an algorithm for quantum vaccinomics by focusing on the model proteins AKR/SUB. © 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland

Fluctuación poblacional, plantas huéspedes, distribución y clave para la identificación de Platypodinae (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) asociados al agroecosistema cacao en Tabasco, México

The ambrosia beetle dynamic population, hosts and distribution were studied in the cacao agroecosystem in Tabasco, Mexico during 2007. The insects were collected in four localities with ethanol and light traps and by direct collecting in their host plants. Five species were collected with Teloplatypus excisus (Chapuis) being the most abundant with a total of 346 specimens. T. excisus and Tesserocerus dewalquei Chapuis are new records for Tabasco. Spondias mombin is recorded as a new host to Platyscapulus pulchellus (Chapuis) and T. excisus. The most efficient method of captured was the ethanol trap where which 459 specimens captured. The populational dinamic of the species through the year of study stayed in low levels in most of the towns studied, with exception of Teapa where market populational pick was seen in May and July through use the ethanol traps and in its hosts; and in the months of July and November with the light traps.Se estudió la fluctuación poblacional, huéspedes y distribución de platipódidos asociados al agroecosistema cacao en Tabasco, México durante el año 2007. Los insectos fueron capturados con trampas de alcohol, luz y en sus plantas huéspedes en cuatro localidades. Se recolectaron cinco especies siendo Teloplatypus excisus (Chapuis) el que presentó la mayor abundancia con un total de 346 especímenes.T. excisus y Tesserocerus dewalquei Chapuis son nuevos registros para Tabasco. Se encontró a Spondias mombin como nuevo huésped de Platyscapulus pulchellus (Chapuis) y T. excisus. El método de captura más eficiente fue la trampa de alcohol, con la cual se capturo 459 especímenes. La fluctuación poblacional de las especies a través del año de estudio se mantuvo en niveles bajos en la mayoría de las localidades estudiadas a excepción de Teapa, donde se registraron picos poblacionales marcados en mayo y julio tanto en las trampas de alcohol como directamente en sus hospederos y en los meses de julio y noviembre en las de luz.