Results and financial situation of firms in 2010

The article looks at the financial situation of non-financial corporations in Belgium over the period from 1 January to 31 December 2010. After briefly describing the methodology and the population studied, it presents an extrapolation of the main operating result items for 2010. It then assesses the financial situation of companies as regards profitability and solvency. Since last year, the scope of this assessment has been widened to cover the entire population, examining not only the medians but also the first and third quartiles and the tenth and ninetieth percentiles. Moreover, the results of the financial health model developed by the Bank are also reported. Finally, section 4 presents a regional analysis of the data.firms’ results, financial structure, bankruptcy risk, sectoral analysis, distribution analysis

Nucleic Acids Res

Micro (mi)RNAs are small non-coding RNAs with key regulatory functions. Recent advances in the field allowed researchers to identify their targets. However, much less is known regarding the regulation of miRNAs themselves. The accumulation of these tiny regulators can be modulated at various levels during their biogenesis from the transcription of the primary transcript (pri-miRNA) to the stability of the mature miRNA. Here, we studied the importance of the pri-miRNA secondary structure for the regulation of mature miRNA accumulation. To this end, we used the Kaposi's sarcoma herpesvirus, which encodes a cluster of 12 pre-miRNAs. Using small RNA profiling and quantitative northern blot analysis, we measured the absolute amount of each mature miRNAs in different cellular context. We found that the difference in expression between the least and most expressed viral miRNAs could be as high as 60-fold. Using high-throughput selective 2'-hydroxyl acylation analyzed by primer extension, we then determined the secondary structure of the long primary transcript. We found that highly expressed miRNAs derived from optimally structured regions within the pri-miRNA. Finally, we confirmed the importance of the local structure by swapping stem-loops or by targeted mutagenesis of selected miRNAs, which resulted in a perturbed accumulation of the mature miRNA

Mechanical properties of rubble pile asteroids (Dimorphos, Itokawa, Ryugu, and Bennu) through surface boulder morphological analysis.

Planetary defense efforts rely on estimates of the mechanical properties of asteroids, which are difficult to constrain accurately from Earth. The mechanical properties of asteroid material are also important in the interpretation of the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) impact. Here we perform a detailed morphological analysis of the surface boulders on Dimorphos using images, the primary data set available from the DART mission. We estimate the bulk angle of internal friction of the boulders to be 32.7 ± 2. 5° from our measurements of the roundness of the 34 best-resolved boulders ranging in size from 1.67-6.64 m. The elongated nature of the boulders around the DART impact site implies that they were likely formed through impact processing. Finally, we find striking similarities in the morphology of the boulders on Dimorphos with those on other rubble pile asteroids (Itokawa, Ryugu and Bennu). This leads to very similar internal friction angles across the four bodies and suggests that a common formation mechanism has shaped the boulders. Our results provide key inputs for understanding the DART impact and for improving our knowledge about the physical properties, the formation and the evolution of both near-Earth rubble-pile and binary asteroids

Labeling of Multiple HIV-1 Proteins with the Biarsenical-Tetracysteine System

Due to its small size and versatility, the biarsenical-tetracysteine system is an attractive way to label viral proteins for live cell imaging. This study describes the genetic labeling of the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) structural proteins (matrix, capsid and nucleocapsid), enzymes (protease, reverse transcriptase, RNAse H and integrase) and envelope glycoprotein 120 with a tetracysteine tag in the context of a full-length virus. We measure the impact of these modifications on the natural virus infection and, most importantly, present the first infectious HIV-1 construct containing a fluorescently-labeled nucleocapsid protein. Furthermore, due to the high background levels normally associated with the labeling of tetracysteine-tagged proteins we have also optimized a metabolic labeling system that produces infectious virus containing the natural envelope glycoproteins and specifically labeled tetracysteine-tagged proteins that can easily be detected after virus infection of T-lymphocytes. This approach can be adapted to other viral systems for the visualization of the interplay between virus and host cell during infection

Deproximating Tredgold's Approximation

Presented is Tredgold’s Approximation for using an equivalent cylindrical gear with spur teeth to “approximate” a bevel gear with straight teeth. This relation is extended to spiral bevel and hypoid gears by utilizing pitch surface curvature in the direction perpendicular to the gear tooth spiral to establish an equivalent gear. Subsequently, the envelope of a planar gear tooth profile in this perpendicular direction is presented. The envelope of the gear tooth profile is used to determine fully conjugate gear teeth profiles for spatial gear elements. This procedure is valid for any tooth profile along with circular and non-circular gears. To validate the methodology, a virtual model of a bevel gear pair (“presented model”) is created and an unloaded tooth contact analysis is performed. The procedure used to perform the unloaded tooth contact analysis and determine the corresponding unloaded transmission error is based on the concept of ease-off topography. An example of a face-milled bevel gear pair (“literature model”) serves as a reference of correctness in determining the ease-off for unloaded contact. To conclude the paper, the obtained ease-off topography and unloaded transmission error of the presented model are calculated and displayed, demonstrating the specification of fully conjugate teeth.status: publishe

Access control based on gait analysis and face recognition

Erratum: ‘Access control based on gait analysis and face recognition’ Author corrections:An author name was missed from the published paper. The author list should appear as:D. Vivet, B. Emile, A. Derbel and S. Treuillet.International audienc

Hysteretic behavior of a CuZnAl single crystal during super elastic shear deformation

The present work investigates the hysteretic behaviour of Cu–Zn–Al single crystal submitted to superelastic shear tests. Major symmetric loops were performed within the shear strain limit of the stress-induced martensitic transformation. Minor loops inside the major loops allowed to analyse more closely the hysteretic behaviour of the Cu–Zn–Al single crystal. Experimental results obey most of the phenomenological observations previously established for polycrystalline Ni–Ti shape memory alloys

3D-IC design solution for modular integration of chiplet over silicon interposer

International audienc