3,509 research outputs found
Tailoring block copolymer nanoporous thin films with acetic acid as a small guest molecule
Block copolymers offer the fabrication of mesoporous thin films with distinct nanoscale structural features. In this contribution, we present the use of acetic acid (CH3COOH) as a lowâmolecularâweight guest molecule to tune the supramolecular assembly of poly[styreneâblockâ(4âvinylpyridine)] (PSâbâP4VP), offering a versatile and straightforward method to obtain tailored nanostructured films with controlled topography and pore size. Spinâcoating toluene solutions of PSâbâP4VP, with a variable amount of CH3COOH, leads to micellar thin films, where the micelles contain the carboxylic acid as a guest molecule. The size can be conveniently modified in these films (from 48 to 75ânm) by varying the amount of organic acid in the starting solutions. Subsequent surface reconstruction of micellar films using ethanol leads to ringâshaped copolymer nanoporous films with modulated diameter. Controlling the micelle reconstruction process, cylindrical porous films are also obtained. Interestingly, changing the type of aliphatic carboxylic acid leads to a modification of the observed film morphology from micelles to outâofâplane P4VP cylinders (or lamellae) in a PS matrix
Charm Production in DPMJET
In this work, charm production in the {\sc dpmjet} hadronic jet simulation is
compared to experimental data. Since the major application of {\sc dpmjet} is
the simulation of cosmic ray-induced air showers, the version of the code
integrated in the CORSIKA simulation package has been used for the comparison.
Wherever necessary, adjustments have been made to improve agreement between
simulation and data. With the availability of new muon/neutrino detectors that
combine a large fiducial volume with large amounts of shielding, investigation
of prompt muons and neutrinos from cosmic ray interactions will be feasible for
the first time. Furthermore, above TeV charmed particle decay
becomes the dominant background for diffuse extraterrestrial neutrino flux
searches. A reliable method to simulate charm production in high-energy
proton-nucleon interactions is therefore required.Comment: 10 pages, to be published in JCA
Whole Genome Sequence Analysis of Burkholderia contaminans FFH2055 Strain Reveals the Presence of Putative ÎČ-Lactamases
Burkholderia contaminans is a member of the Burkholderia cepacia complex (Bcc), a pathogen with increasing prevalence among cystic fibrosis (CF) patients and the cause of numerous outbreaks due to the use of contaminated commercial products. The antibiotic resistance determinants, particularly ÎČ-lactamases, have been poorly studied in this species. In this work, we explored the whole genome sequence (WGS) of a B. contaminans isolate (FFH 2055) and detected four putative ÎČ-lactamase-encoding genes. In general, these genes have more than 93% identity with ÎČ-lactamase genes found in other Bcc species. Two ÎČ-lactamases, a class A (Pen-like, suggested name PenO) and a class D (OXA-like), were further analyzed and characterized. Amino acid sequence comparison showed that Pen-like has 82% and 67% identity with B. multivorans PenA and B. pseudomallei PenI, respectively, while OXA-like displayed strong homology with class D enzymes within the Bcc, but only 22â44% identity with available structures from the OXA family. PCR reactions designed to study the presence of these two genes revealed a heterogeneous distribution among clinical and industrial B. contaminans isolates. Lastly, bla PenO gene was cloned and expressed into E. coli to investigate the antibiotic resistance profile and confers an extended-spectrum ÎČ-lactamase (ESBL) phenotype. These results provide insight into the presence of ÎČ-lactamases in B. contaminans, suggesting they play a role in antibiotic resistance of these bacteria.Fil: Degrossi, JosĂ© J.. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y BioquĂmica; ArgentinaFil: Merino, Cindy. University Fullerton; Estados UnidosFil: Isasmendi, Adela M.. Gobierno de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires. Hospital de PediatrĂa "Juan P. Garrahan"; ArgentinaFil: Ibarra, Lorena M.. Gobierno de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires. Hospital General de Niños "Ricardo GutiĂ©rrez"; ArgentinaFil: Collins, Chelsea. University Fullerton; Estados UnidosFil: Bo, NicolĂĄs E.. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y BioquĂmica; ArgentinaFil: Papalia, Mariana Andrea. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y BioquĂmica. Departamento de MicrobiologĂa, InmunologĂa y BiotecnologĂa. CĂĄtedra de MicrobiologĂa; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones CientĂficas y TĂ©cnicas. Oficina de CoordinaciĂłn Administrativa Houssay; ArgentinaFil: Fernandez, Jennifer S.. University Fullerton; Estados UnidosFil: Hernandez, Claudia M.. Gobierno de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires. Hospital de PediatrĂa "Juan P. Garrahan"; ArgentinaFil: Papp Wallace, Krisztina M.. Case Western Reserve University; Estados UnidosFil: Bonomo, Robert A.. Case Western Reserve University; Estados UnidosFil: Vazquez, Miryam S.. Gobierno de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires. Hospital General de Niños "Ricardo GutiĂ©rrez"; ArgentinaFil: Power, Pablo. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y BioquĂmica. Departamento de MicrobiologĂa, InmunologĂa y BiotecnologĂa. CĂĄtedra de MicrobiologĂa; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones CientĂficas y TĂ©cnicas. Oficina de CoordinaciĂłn Administrativa Houssay; ArgentinaFil: Ramirez, MarĂa S.. University Fullerton; Estados Unido
Early-onset Alzheimer's disease shows a distinct neuropsychological profile and more aggressive trajectories of cognitive decline than late-onset
Early- and late-onset Alzheimer's disease (EOAD and LOAD) share the same neuropathological traits but show distinct cognitive features. We aimed to explore baseline and longitudinal outcomes of global and domain-specific cognitive function in a well characterized cohort of patients with a biomarker-based diagnosis.In this retrospective cohort study, 195 participants were included and classified according to their age, clinical status, and CSF AD biomarker profile: 89 EOAD, 37 LOAD, 46 young healthy controls (age???65?years), and 23 old healthy controls (>65?years). All subjects underwent clinical and neuropsychological assessment, neuroimaging, APOE genotyping and lumbar puncture.We found distinct neuropsychological profiles between EOAD and LOAD at the time of diagnosis. Both groups showed similar performances on memory and language domains, but the EOAD patients displayed worsened deficits in visual perception, praxis, and executive tasks (p?<?0.05). Longitudinally, cognitive decline in EOAD was more pronounced than LOAD in the global outcomes at the expense of these non-amnestic domains. We found that years of education significantly influenced the decline in most of the neuropsychological tests. Besides, the APOE ?4 status showed a significant effect on the decline of memory-related tasks within the EOAD cohort (p?<?0.05).Age of onset is a main factor shaping the cognitive trajectories in AD patients, with younger age driving to a steeper decline of the non-memory domains. Years of education are related to a transversal decline in all cognitive domains and APOE ?4 status to a specific decline in memory performance in EOAD.© 2022 The Authors. Annals of Clinical and Translational Neurology published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of American Neurological Association
CSA06 Computing, Software and Analysis challenge at the Spanish Tier-1 and Tier-2 sites
This note describes the participation of the Spanish centres PIC, CIEMAT and IFCA as Tier-1 and Tier-2 sites in the CMS CSA06 Computing, Software and Analysis challenge. A number of the facilities, services and workflows have been demonstrated at the 2008 25% scale. Very valuable experience has been gained running the complex computing system under realistic conditions at a significant scale. The focus of this note is on presenting achieved results, operational experience and lessons learnt during the challenge
An Integrated Research Infrastructure for Validating Cyber-Physical Energy Systems
Renewables are key enablers in the plight to reduce greenhouse gas emissions
and cope with anthropogenic global warming. The intermittent nature and limited
storage capabilities of renewables culminate in new challenges that power
system operators have to deal with in order to regulate power quality and
ensure security of supply. At the same time, the increased availability of
advanced automation and communication technologies provides new opportunities
for the derivation of intelligent solutions to tackle the challenges. Previous
work has shown various new methods of operating highly interconnected power
grids, and their corresponding components, in a more effective way. As a
consequence of these developments, the traditional power system is being
transformed into a cyber-physical energy system, a smart grid. Previous and
ongoing research have tended to mainly focus on how specific aspects of smart
grids can be validated, but until there exists no integrated approach for the
analysis and evaluation of complex cyber-physical systems configurations. This
paper introduces integrated research infrastructure that provides methods and
tools for validating smart grid systems in a holistic, cyber-physical manner.
The corresponding concepts are currently being developed further in the
European project ERIGrid.Comment: 8th International Conference on Industrial Applications of Holonic
and Multi-Agent Systems (HoloMAS 2017
Factors associated with the development of septic shock in patients with candidemia: A post hoc analysis from two prospective cohorts
Background: Almost one third of the patients with candidemia develop septic shock. The understanding why some patients do and others do not develop septic shock is very limited. The objective of this study was to identify variables associated with septic shock development in a large population of patients with candidemia. Methods: A post hoc analysis was performed on two prospective, multicenter cohort of patients with candidemia from 12 hospitals in Spain and Italy. All episodes occurring from September 2016 to February 2018 were analyzed to assess variables associated with septic shock development defined according to The Third International Consensus Definition for Sepsis and Septic Shock (Sepsis-3). Results: Of 317 candidemic patients, 99 (31.2%) presented septic shock attributable to candidemia. Multivariate logistic regression analysis identifies the following factors associated with septic shock development: age > 50 years (OR 2.57, 95% CI 1.03-6.41, p = 0.04), abdominal source of the infection (OR 2.18, 95% CI 1.04-4.55, p = 0.04), and admission to a general ward at the time of candidemia onset (OR 0.21, 95% CI, 0.12-0.44, p = 0.001). Septic shock development was independently associated with a greater risk of 30-day mortality (OR 2.14, 95% CI 1.08-4.24, p = 0.02). Conclusions: Age and abdominal source of the infection are the most important factors significantly associated with the development of septic shock in patients with candidemia. Our findings suggest that host factors and source of the infection may be more important for development of septic shock than intrinsic virulence factors of organisms
TESLA Technical Design Report Part III: Physics at an e+e- Linear Collider
The TESLA Technical Design Report Part III: Physics at an e+e- Linear
ColliderComment: 192 pages, 131 figures. Some figures have reduced quality. Full
quality figures can be obtained from http://tesla.desy.de/tdr. Editors -
R.-D. Heuer, D.J. Miller, F. Richard, P.M. Zerwa
Search for the standard model Higgs boson in the H to ZZ to 2l 2nu channel in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV
A search for the standard model Higgs boson in the H to ZZ to 2l 2nu decay
channel, where l = e or mu, in pp collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 7
TeV is presented. The data were collected at the LHC, with the CMS detector,
and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 4.6 inverse femtobarns. No
significant excess is observed above the background expectation, and upper
limits are set on the Higgs boson production cross section. The presence of the
standard model Higgs boson with a mass in the 270-440 GeV range is excluded at
95% confidence level.Comment: Submitted to JHE
Search for anomalous t t-bar production in the highly-boosted all-hadronic final state
A search is presented for a massive particle, generically referred to as a
Z', decaying into a t t-bar pair. The search focuses on Z' resonances that are
sufficiently massive to produce highly Lorentz-boosted top quarks, which yield
collimated decay products that are partially or fully merged into single jets.
The analysis uses new methods to analyze jet substructure, providing
suppression of the non-top multijet backgrounds. The analysis is based on a
data sample of proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 7 TeV,
corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 5 inverse femtobarns. Upper limits
in the range of 1 pb are set on the product of the production cross section and
branching fraction for a topcolor Z' modeled for several widths, as well as for
a Randall--Sundrum Kaluza--Klein gluon. In addition, the results constrain any
enhancement in t t-bar production beyond expectations of the standard model for
t t-bar invariant masses larger than 1 TeV.Comment: Submitted to the Journal of High Energy Physics; this version
includes a minor typo correction that will be submitted as an erratu
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