Improvements of the Variable Thermal Resistance

A flat mounting unit with electronically variable thermal resistance [1] has been presented in the last year [2]. The design was based on a Peltier cell and the appropriate control electronics and software. The device is devoted especially to the thermal characterization of packages, e.g. in dual cold plate arrangements. Although this design meets the requirements of the static measurement we are intended to improve its parameters as the settling time and dynamic thermal impedance and the range of realized thermal resistance. The new design applies the heat flux sensor developed by our team as well [3], making easier the control of the device. This development allows even the realization of negative thermal resistances.Comment: Submitted on behalf of TIMA Editions (http://irevues.inist.fr/tima-editions

Children's emotional functioning in the preschool period: Emotion recognition, temparament and their links with early risk factors : The Generation R Study

Emotions are essential aspects of our adaptation to the social and physical environment. All emotions, even the negative ones, have significantly beneficial effects on our behavior, well-being, and adaptation. Conversely, inappropriate and uncontrolled emotional responses are implicated in many forms of psychopathology and even in physical illness. In young children, temperament and the ability to accurately recognize emotional signals are key aspects of emotional functioning. The present thesis examines environmental and genetic correlates of children’s temperament and emotion recognition accuracy in the early preschool years, a period during which temperament begins to stabilize and children develop a solid foundation for the accurate perception and labeling of emotions. All studies included in this thesis were conducted within the context of The Generation R Study, a large-scale population-based prospective child cohort from fetal life onward in Rotterdam, the Netherlands

Immunofluorescence staining of paraffin sections: creating DAB staining like virtual digital images using CMYK color conversion

Crystal violet treatment of formalin fixed paraffin embedded tissue slides greatly reduces the endogenous autofluorescence, and allows immunofluorescence (IF) staining with FITC or Alexa488 conjugated antibodies. Using cold CCD camera to capture the fluorescence images makes this staining method very sensitive. Here we show that combination of IF with the simultaneous recording of crystal violet induced red and Hoechst 33258 induced blue fluorescence permits the localization of the IF signal over a cytoplasmic: nuclear red:blue stain that visualizes the microscopic anatomy of the underlying tissue. To make the visual interpretation of the IF staining easier for microscopists, who are used to DAB staining over weak hematoxilin-eosin background, we created a simple color conversion procedure that turns the captured three-color fluorescence RGB (red, green, blue) images over a black background into four color CMYK (cyan, magenta, yellow, key color (black)) images.Окраска кристаллическим фиолетовым парафиновых срезов, полученных из ткани, фиксированной в формалине, значительно уменьшает явления аутофлуоресценции и обеспечивает иммунофлуоресцентную (ИФ) окраску антителами, конъюгированными сFITC или Aleхa-488. Использование CCD-камер для регистрации флуоресцентных изображений делает этот метод очень чувствительным. Наша цель — разработать метод трансформации RGB (red, green, blue) — флуоресцентных изображений в CMYC (cyan, magenta, yellow, key color (black) ) изображения. Показано, что комбинация ИФ с одновременной регистрацией красной и голубой флуоресценции, индуцированной соответственно кристаллическим фиолетовым и Hoechst33258, позволяет определять ИФ-сигнал как цитоплазматично-ядерное красно-голубое окрашивание, которое визуализирует морфологические особенности прилегающей ткани. Для упрощения интерпретации ИФ-окраски патологами, привыкшими к окрашиванию ДАБ на фоне гематоксилин-эозина, нами была создана технология простого цветового перехода, который превращает зарегистрированные трехцветные RGB-флуоресцентные изображения на черном фоне в четырехцветные CMYC-изображения на белом фоне, используя программы работы с изображениями

On the Shape of Liquid Metal Droplets in Electromagnetic Levitation Experiments

We present calculations and measurements on the shape of liquid metal droplets in electromagnetic levitation experiments. A normal stress balance model was developed to predict the shapes of liquid metal droplets that will be obtained in a microgravity experiment to measure the viscosity and surface tension of undercooled metals. This model was tested by calculating the droplet shapes in containerless experiments conducted to determine the surface tension of liquid metals. Inconsistencies associated with the results of a previous paper are elucidated. The computational results of the mathematical model are compared with the results of ground-based experiments for two different metals. The importance of the ratio of electromagnetic skin depth-to-droplet radius to the accuracy of the mathematical model is discussed. A planned alternate approach to modeling the shape by consideration of the entire droplet rather than only the surface is presented. As an example of an application. the influence of the shape on the splitting of the surface oscillation modes of levitated liquid metal droplets is discussed

ArCo: the Italian Cultural Heritage Knowledge Graph

ArCo is the Italian Cultural Heritage knowledge graph, consisting of a network of seven vocabularies and 169 million triples about 820 thousand cultural entities. It is distributed jointly with a SPARQL endpoint, a software for converting catalogue records to RDF, and a rich suite of documentation material (testing, evaluation, how-to, examples, etc.). ArCo is based on the official General Catalogue of the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities (MiBAC) - and its associated encoding regulations - which collects and validates the catalogue records of (ideally) all Italian Cultural Heritage properties (excluding libraries and archives), contributed by CH administrators from all over Italy. We present its structure, design methods and tools, its growing community, and delineate its importance, quality, and impact

Reducing the possibility of subjective error in the determination of the structure-function-based effective thermal conductivity of boards

The thermal response function given to a unit-step dissipation accurately characterizes the thermal system. Instead of the thermal response function the so-called structure function describing three-dimensional as the equivalent model of one-dimensional heat-spreading, created from the thermal response function with the help of complex mathematical procedures, is often used. Using the structure function the partial thermal capacity and partial heat resistance of certain elements of the thermal system can be identified. If the geometrical measurements of a thermal system of simple geometry and homogeneous material (such as a homogeneous rod or board, etc.) are known, the coefficient of thermal conductivity of the material in question can be determined from two points of the structure function at 2-5 per cent of accuracy. In this paper a method is presented which applies a wide range/section instead of two points of the cumulative structure function to determine the thermal coefficient, thus reducing the subjective error deriving from the selection of the two points. The above method is presented and illustrated in simulated as well as measured thermal transient responses

The polymorphic nature of the human dopamine D4 receptor gene: A comparative analysis of known variants and a novel 27 bp deletion in the promoter region

BACKGROUND: The human dopamine D4 receptor (DRD4) is a candidate gene of great interest in molecular studies of human personality and psychiatric disorders. This gene is unique in having an exceptionally high amount of polymorphic sites both in the coding and in the promoter region. RESULTS: We report the identification of a new 27 bp deletion starting 524 bp upstream of the initiation codon (27 bp del) of the dopamine D4 receptor (DRD4) gene, in the close vicinity of the -521C>T SNP. The presence of the 27 bp deletion leads to the misgenotyping of the -616C>G SNP by the Sau96 I RFLP method, thus the genotype determination of the mutation is of additional importance. The frequency of this novel sequence variation is considerably low (allele frequency is = 0.16%), as no homozygotes, and only 3 heterozygote carriers were found in a healthy, unrelated Caucasian sample (N = 955). CONCLUSION: Remarkably, the deleted region contains consensus sequences of binding sites for several known transcription factors, suggesting that the different alleles may affect the transcriptional regulation of the gene. A comparison of methods and results for the allelic variations of the DRD4 gene in various ethnic groups is also discussed, which has a high impact in psychiatric genetic studies

Sexual conflict predicts morphology and behavior in two species of penduline tits

Background: The evolutionary interests of males and females rarely coincide (sexual conflict), and these conflicting interests influence morphology, behavior and speciation in various organisms. We examined consequences of variation in sexual conflict in two closely-related passerine birds with contrasting breeding systems: the Eurasian penduline tit Remiz pendulinus (EPT) exhibiting a highly polygamous breeding system with sexually antagonistic interests over parental care, and the socially monogamous Cape penduline tit Anthoscopus minutus (CPT). We derived four a priori predictions from sexual conflict theory and tested these using data collected in Central Europe (EPT) and South Africa (CPT). Firstly, we predicted that EPTs exhibit more sexually dimorphic plumage than CPTs due to more intense sexual selection. Secondly, we expected brighter EPT males to provide less care than duller males. Thirdly, since song is a sexually selected trait in many birds, male EPTs were expected to exhibit more complex songs than CPT males. Finally, intense sexual conflict in EPT was expected to lead to low nest attendance as an indication of sexually antagonistic interests, whereas we expected more cooperation between parents in CPT consistent with their socially monogamous breeding system. Results: Consistent with our predictions EPTs exhibited greater sexual dimorphism in plumage and more complex song than CPTs, and brighter EPT males provided less care than duller ones. EPT parents attended the nest less frequently and less simultaneously than CPT parents. Conclusions: These results are consistent with sexual conflict theory: species in which sexual conflict is more manifested (EPT) exhibited a stronger sexual dimorphism and more elaborated sexually selected traits than species with less intense sexual conflict (CPT). Our results are also consistent with the notion that EPTs attempt to force their partner to work harder as expected under sexual conflict: each member of the breeding pair attempts to shift the costs of care to the other parent. More brightly colored males benefit more from desertion than dull ones, because they are more likely to remate with a new female. Taken together, the comparison between two closely related species with contrasting breeding systems suggest that sexual conflict over care has influenced the evolution of behavior and morphology in penduline tits