171 research outputs found

    Algorithmic Embeddedness and the ‘Gig’ Characteristics Model: Examining the Interplay between Technology and Work Design in Crowdwork

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    This article systematically reviews the literature on online task crowdwork to investigate the complex relationship between technology and work design on crowdwork platforms. We highlight the diverse interpretations and uses of technology, specifically platform features and algorithms, in relation to work design. Our review reveals that platform features serve as antecedents to work design characteristics, while algorithms are so intertwined with job execution that a new work characteristic is needed to model this interplay. We introduce this new work characteristic as algorithmic embeddedness and show that it varies in degree. When high, algorithmic embeddedness can be perceived as either an affordance or a constraint; when low, it has a limited impact on crowdworkers' jobs. Our 'gig characteristics model' expands previous work design theories and offers a framework for understanding the design of contemporary jobs that rely highly on algorithms. To refine our model and better understand crowdwork dynamics, we provide an agenda for future research directions

    Dependence of Magnetic Field Quality on Collar Supplier and Dimensions in the Main LHC Dipole

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    C. Santoni, coll. Atlas, to be published in the proceeding of the conferenceIn order to keep the electro-magnetic forces and to minimize conductor movements, the superconducting coils of the main Large Hadron Collider dipoles are held in place by means of austenitic steel collars. Two suppliers provide the collars necessary for the whole LHC production, which has now reached more than 800 collared coils. In this paper we first assess if the different collar suppliers origin a noticeable difference in the magnetic field quality measured at room temperature. We then analyze the measurements of the collar dimensions carried out at the manufacturers, comparing them to the geometrical tolerances. Finally we use a magneto-static model to evaluate the expected spread in the field components induced by the actual collar dimensions. These spreads are compared to the magnetic measurements at room temperature over the magnet production in order to identify if the collars, rather than other components or assembly process, can account for the measured magnetic field effects. It has been found that in one over the three Cold Mass Assemblers the driving mechanism of the magnetic field harmonics b2 and a3 is the collar shape

    Multifocal gastrointestinal angiosarcoma: A challenging diagnosis?

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    Angiosarcoma rarely involves the gastrointestinal tract. Herein, we describe the case of a 68-year-old man with haemoptysis and melena who was eventually diagnosed with multifocal angiosarcoma of the stomach, small bowel, lungs, and thyroid. The peculiarity was that the histological feature of the polypoid lesions removed at endoscopy was initially misinterpreted as benign hyperplastic polyps, whilst their neoplastic nature was clinically suspected only when the videocapsule endoscopy revealed the presence of multiple variable-sized nodules with apical erosion or active bleeding in the small bowel. Based on the very low incidence, diagnosis of angiosarcoma involving the gastrointestinal tract may be misinterpreted by both the endoscopist and pathologist

    Successful immunosenescence and the remodelling of immune responses with ageing.

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    In recent decades, major theoretical and technological advances have been achieved in the field of immunology. These have allowed the scientific community to analyse the immune system in a much more sophisticated manner than was possible even 20 years ago. Moreover, great theoretical changes have also occurred in gerontology - in particular, the hypothesis has been put forward that ageing and diseases are two different phenomena, and that successful ageing, i.e. ageing in good psychophysical conditions, is really possible for most humans and animals. Immunosenescence was then carefully investigated, either in selected healthy people of advanced age or in the oldest old people, such as healthy centenarians. The main results showed that most immune parameters are indeed well preserved even at this far advanced age. This paper deals with some of the most important theoretical problems of immunosenescence. An immunological tenet was that the most important phenomenon of immunosenescence is the involution of the thymus. In most textbooks and papers it is taken for granted that the thymus starts its involution immediately after puberty. When people aged 60-65 were considered old, it was not difficult to think that they could live for the rest of their life with a fully involuted thymus. The findings on centenarians challenge this tenet, as they have only a small reduction of T lymphocytes, and a relatively normal number of virgin and memory T cells, together with a functional T cell repertoire. Other observations reported here on centenarians, concerning the activity of B lymphocytes and the cytokine network, as well as those on the well-preserved innate immunity and the cells' capability of undergoing proliferation after appropriate stimuli, suggest that complex immune changes occur with age, but also indicate that we have to modify our attitude, to grasp the new scenario which is emerging. Immunosenescence can no longer be considered as a unidirectional deterioration, and this complex phenomenon is much better described by terms such as 'remodelling', 'reshaping' or 'retuning'

    A Condensation-Ordering Mechanism in Nanoparticle-Catalyzed Peptide Aggregation

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    Nanoparticles introduced in living cells are capable of strongly promoting the aggregation of peptides and proteins. We use here molecular dynamics simulations to characterise in detail the process by which nanoparticle surfaces catalyse the self- assembly of peptides into fibrillar structures. The simulation of a system of hundreds of peptides over the millisecond timescale enables us to show that the mechanism of aggregation involves a first phase in which small structurally disordered oligomers assemble onto the nanoparticle and a second phase in which they evolve into highly ordered beta-sheets as their size increases

    Chrysomelidial in the Opisthonotal Glands of the Oribatid Mite, Oribotritia berlesei

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    Gas chromatographic–mass spectrometric analyses of whole body extracts of Oribotritia berlesei, a large-sized soil-dwelling oribatid mite, revealed a consistent chemical pattern of ten components, probably originating from the well-developed opisthonotal glands. The three major components of the extract were the iridoid monoterpene, (3S,8S)-chrysomelidial (about 45% of the extract), the unsaturated hydrocarbon 6,9-heptadecadiene, and the diterpene β-springene (the latter two, each about 20–25% of the extract). The remaining minor components (together about 10% of the extract) included a series of hydrocarbons (tridecene, tridecane, pentadecene, pentadecane, 8-heptadecene, and heptadecane) and the tentatively identified 9,17-octadecadienal. In contrast, analysis of juveniles showed only two compounds, namely a 2:1 mixture of (3S,8S)-chrysomelidial and its epimer, epi-chrysomelidial (3S,8R-chrysomelidial). Unexpectedly, neither adult nor juvenile secretions contained the so-called astigmatid compounds, which are considered characteristic of secretions of oribatids above moderately derived Mixonomata. The chrysomelidials, as well as β-springene and octadecadienal, are newly identified compounds in the opisthonotal glands of oribatid mites and have chemotaxonomic potential for this group. This is the first instance of finding chrysomelidials outside the Coleoptera

    A Study on New Trial Mode Regarding Real Estate Registration Civil-Administrative Interweaving Case

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    不动产登记案件中民事争议与行政争议交叉现象日渐显现,但目前我国法律尚未具体规定民事与行政交叉案件的审理办法,司法解释也未对此提出周详的解决方案,如何正确审理此类案件成为司法界一大难点问题。本文以实践中产生争议最大、问题最多的一类民行交叉案件——不动产登记纠纷为研究视角,在现有法律框架下,澄清实践中一些错误的观念和看法,提出并行诉讼模式,为解决当事人的民事、行政争议并使登记记载与事实归于一致提供了一种新鲜的模式。全文除引言和结语外,分为四章: 第一章从四个常见案例入手对不动产登记纠纷进行类型化研究,介绍了现行民事、行政交叉案件的五种常见的审理模式,并对这五种审理模式遭遇的困境进行反思。现有的五...The interweaving of civil and administrative disputes is becoming more and more apparent in real estate registration cases. To date, legislations in our country have specifically not dealt with how to hear civil and administrative interweaving cases, and judicial interpretations does not render detailed solutions either. As a result, how to correctly adjudicate such cases has become a difficulty f...学位:法律硕士院系专业:法学院法律系_法律硕士(JM)学号:X200712004

    Role of water in Protein Aggregation and Amyloid Polymorphism

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    A variety of neurodegenerative diseases are associated with the formation of amyloid plaques. Our incomplete understanding of this process underscores the need to decipher the principles governing protein aggregation. Most experimental and simulation studies have been interpreted largely from the perspective of proteins: the role of solvent has been relatively overlooked. In this Account, we provide a perspective on how interactions with water affect folding landscapes of Aβ\beta monomers, Aβ1622\beta_{16-22} oligomer formation, and protofilament formation in a Sup35 peptide. Simulations show that the formation of aggregation-prone structures (N^*) similar to the structure in the fibril requires overcoming high desolvation barrier. The mechanism of protofilament formation in a polar Sup35 peptide fragment illustrates that water dramatically slows down self-assembly. Release of water trapped in the pores as water wires creates protofilament with a dry interface. Similarly, one of the main driving force for addition of a solvated monomer to a preformed fibril is the entropy gain of released water. We conclude by postulating that two-step model for protein crystallization must also hold for higher order amyloid structure formation starting from N^*. Multiple N^* structures with varying water content results in a number of distinct water-laden polymorphic structures. In predominantly hydrophobic sequences, water accelerates fibril formation. In contrast, water-stabilized metastable intermediates dramatically slow down fibril growth rates in hydrophilic sequences.Comment: 27 pages, 4 figures; Accounts of Chemical Research, 201

    Finite Size Effects in Simulations of Protein Aggregation

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    It is becoming increasingly clear that the soluble protofibrillar species that proceed amyloid fibril formation are associated with a range of neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson diseases. Computer simulations of the processes that lead to the formation of these oligomeric species are starting to make significant contributions to our understanding of the determinants of protein aggregation. We simulate different systems at constant concentration but with a different number of peptides and we study the how the finite number of proteins affects the underlying free energy of the system and therefore the relative stability of the species involved in the process. If not taken into account, this finite size effect can undermine the validity of theoretical predictions regarding the relative stability of the species involved and the rates of conversion from one to the other. We discuss the reasons that give rise to this finite size effect form both a probabilistic and energy fluctuations point of view and also how this problem can be dealt by a finite size scaling analysis

    Inversion of the balance between hydrophobic and hydrogen bonding interactions in protein folding and aggregation.

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    Identifying the forces that drive proteins to misfold and aggregate, rather than to fold into their functional states, is fundamental to our understanding of living systems and to our ability to combat protein deposition disorders such as Alzheimer's disease and the spongiform encephalopathies. We report here the finding that the balance between hydrophobic and hydrogen bonding interactions is different for proteins in the processes of folding to their native states and misfolding to the alternative amyloid structures. We find that the minima of the protein free energy landscape for folding and misfolding tend to be respectively dominated by hydrophobic and by hydrogen bonding interactions. These results characterise the nature of the interactions that determine the competition between folding and misfolding of proteins by revealing that the stability of native proteins is primarily determined by hydrophobic interactions between side-chains, while the stability of amyloid fibrils depends more on backbone intermolecular hydrogen bonding interactions
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