Ratcheting of granular materials

We investigate the quasi-static mechanical response of soils under cyclic loading using a discrete model of randomly generated convex polygons. This response exhibits a sequence of regimes, each one characterized by a linear accumulation of plastic deformation with the number of cycles. At the grain level, a quasi-periodic ratchet-like behavior is observed at the contacts, which excludes the existence of an elastic regime. The study of this slow dynamics allows to explore the role of friction in the permanent deformation of unbound granular materials supporting railroads and streets.Comment: Changed content Submitted to Physical Review Letter

Preservação e organização da geoinformação em instituições: o caso da construção da Infraestrutura de Dados Espaciais da Embrapa.

O objetivo deste trabalho é apresentar a estratégia da Embrapa para construir sua Infraestrutura de Dados Espaciais de forma a contribuir com o debate sobre a organização, preservação e integração de dados geoespaciais heterogêneos de acordo com as diretrizes federais estabelecidas pela INDE. Para esse fim, apresentaremos as etapas do processo interno realizado na Embrapa para elaboração o plano de adesão à INDE, o qual contou com a formação de um grupo de trabalho e, em seguida, descreveremos a estratégia elaborada

I RAPPORTI ECONOMICO-FINANZIARI TRA ITALIA E REPUBBLICA DI SAN MARINO

Circadian clocks coordinate 24-hr rhythms of behavior and physiology. In mammals, a master clock residing in the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) is reset by the light-dark cycle, while timed food intake is a potent synchronizer of peripheral clocks such as the liver. Alterations in food intake rhythms can uncouple peripheral clocks from the SCN, resulting in internal desynchrony, which promotes obesity and metabolic disorders. Pancreas-derived hormones such as insulin and glucagon have been implicated in signaling mealtime to peripheral clocks. In this study, we identify a novel, more direct pathway of food-driven liver clock resetting involving oxyntomodulin (OXM). In mice, food intake stimulates OXM secretion from the gut, which resets liver transcription rhythms via induction of the core clock genes Per1 and 2. Inhibition of OXM signaling blocks food-mediated resetting of hepatocyte clocks. These data reveal a direct link between gastric filling with food and circadian rhythm phasing in metabolic tissues

Synthesis of new DPP-4 inhibitors based on a novel tricyclic scaffold

A novel molecular scaffold has been synthesized and its synthesis and incorporation into new analogues of biologically active molecules will be discussed. A comparison of the inhibitory activity of these compounds to the known type-2 diabetes compound (sitagliptin) against dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4) will be shown

Processamento de imagens digitais e gestão da informação.

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SOMABRASIL: Sistema de Observação e Monitoramento da Agricultura no Brasil.

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Onshore Wind Speed Modulates Microbial Aerosols along an Urban Waterfront

Wind blowing over aquatic and terrestrial surfaces produces aerosols, which include microbial aerosols. We studied the effect of onshore wind speeds on aerosol concentrations as well as total and culturable microbial aerosols (bacterial and viral) at an urban waterfront (New York, NY, USA). We used two distinct methods to characterize microbial aerosol responses to wind speed: A culture-based exposure-plate method measuring viable bacterial deposition near-shore (CFU accumulation rate); and a culture-independent aerosol sampler-based method measuring total bacterial and viral aerosols (cells m−3 air). While ambient coarse (\u3e2 µm) and fine (0.3–2 µm) aerosol particle number concentrations (regulated indicators of air quality) decreased with increasing onshore wind speeds, total and depositing culturable bacterial aerosols and total viral aerosols increased. Taxonomic identification of the 16S rDNA of bacterial aerosol isolates suggested both terrestrial and aquatic sources. Wind appears to increase microbial aerosol number concentrations in the near-shore environment by onshore transport at low wind speeds (s−1 ), and increased local production and transport of new microbial aerosols from adjacent water surfaces at higher wind speeds (\u3e4 m s−1 ). This study demonstrates a wind-modulated microbial connection between water and air in the coastal urban environment, with implications for public health management and urban microbial ecology

Business models: A challenging agenda

Most research on business models lies in the literature on strategy and competitive advantage and focuses on their role as descriptors of actual phenomenon, often by reference to taxonomic categories. In this article, we explore how business models can be seen as a set of cognitive configurations that can be manipulable in the minds of managers (and academics). By proposing a typology of business models that emphasizes the connecting of traditional value chain descriptors with how customers are identified and satisfied, and how the firm monetizes its value, we explore how business model configurations can extend current work on cognitive categorization and open up new possibilities for organization research