Knowledge description for the suitability requirements of different geographical regions for growing wine

The production of wine has progressed on every main continent. The knowledge modeling can support the sharing of expertise, methods and good practice concerning international grape vine growing and wine production while maintaining a high level of quality. Our research focuses specifically on the development of a support system for knowledge formalization. We describe some procedural rules to represent experienced knowledge in the viticulture domain and plant pathology. We use a graphical software for rules management. The visual representation is a step toward the improvements of interaction between Artificial Intelligence methods and domain experts to make interpretable learning models for concrete decisions. This implementation enables us to make valuable visual reasoning to search whether the Chinese regions are capable of receiving a production of French vineyards. In particular, one outcome is that two Chinese regions appear more favorable and consistent for the development of wine from the Bordeaux region

A trace bound for positive definite connected integer symmetric matrices

Abstract. Let A be a connected integer symmetric matrix, i.e., A = (aij) ∈ Mn(Z) for some n, A = AT, and the underlying graph (vertices corresponding to rows, with vertex i joined to vertex j if aij 6 = 0) is connected. We show that if all the eigenvalues of A are strictly positive, then tr(A) ≥ 2n − 1. There are two striking corollaries. First, the analogue of the Schur-Siegel-Smyth trace problem is solved for characteristic polynomials of connected inte-ger symmetric matrices. Second, we find new examples of totally real, separa-ble, irreducible, monic integer polynomials that are not minimal polynomials of integer symmetric matrices

Computation of Mass Outflow Rate from Relativistic Quasi-Spherical Accretion onto Black Holes

We compute mass outflow rate $R_{\dot m}$ from relativistic matter accreting quasi-spherically onto Schwarzschild black holes. Taking the pair-plasma pressure mediated shock surface as the {\it effective} boundary layer (of the black hole) from where bulk of the outflow is assumed to be generated, computation of this rate is done using combinations of exact transonic inflow and outflow solutions. We find that $R_{\dot m}$ depends on the initial parameters of the flow, the polytropic index of matter, the degree of compression of matter near the shock surface and on the location of the shock surface itself. We thus not only study the variation of the mass outflow rate as a function of various physical parameters governing the problem but also provide a sufficiently plausible estimation of this rate.Comment: 6 twocoloumn pages with 5 figures. mn.sty used. Accepted for publication in MNRA

<i>De novo</i> adult transcriptomes of two European brittle stars: spotlight on opsin-based photoreception

Next generation sequencing (NGS) technology allows to obtain a deeper and more complete view of transcriptomes. For non-model or emerging model marine organisms, NGS technologies offer a great opportunity for rapid access to genetic information. In this study, paired-end Illumina HiSeqTM technology has been employed to analyse transcriptomes from the arm tissues of two European brittle star species, Amphiura filiformis and Ophiopsila aranea. About 48 million Illumina reads were generated and 136,387 total unigenes were predicted from A. filiformis arm tissues. For O. aranea arm tissues, about 47 million reads were generated and 123,324 total unigenes were obtained. Twenty-four percent of the total unigenes from A. filiformis show significant matches with sequences present in reference online databases, whereas, for O. aranea, this percentage amounts to 23%. In both species, around 50% of the predicted annotated unigenes were significantly similar to transcripts from the purple sea urchin, the closest species to date that has undergone complete genome sequencing and annotation. GO, COG and KEGG analyses were performed on predicted brittle star unigenes. We focused our analyses on the phototransduction actors involved in light perception. Firstly, two new echinoderm opsins were identified in O. aranea: one rhabdomeric opsin (homologous to vertebrate melanopsin) and one RGR opsin. The RGR-opsin is supposed to be involved in retinal regeneration while the r-opsin is suspected to play a role in visual-like behaviour. Secondly, potential phototransduction actors were identified in both transcriptomes using the fly (rhabdomeric) and mammal (ciliary) classical phototransduction pathways as references. Finally, the sensitivity of O.aranea to monochromatic light was investigated to complement data available for A. filiformis. The presence of microlens-like structures at the surface of dorsal arm plate of O. aranea could potentially explain phototactic behaviour differences between the two species. The results confirm (i) the ability of these brittle stars to perceive light using opsin-based photoreception, (ii) suggest the co-occurrence of both rhabdomeric and ciliary photoreceptors, and (iii) emphasise the complexity of light perception in this echinoderm class

Spin Correlation Coefficients in pp-->pnpi+ from 325 to 400 MeV

The spin correlation coefficient combinations Axx + Ayy, Axx - Ayy and the analyzing powers Ay(theta) were measured for pp-->pnpi+ at beam energies of 325, 350, 375 and 400 MeV. A polarized internal atomic hydrogen target and a stored, polarized proton beam were used. These polarization observables are sensitive to contributions of higher partial waves. A comparison with recent theoretical calculations is provided.Comment: 8 Pages, 1 Table, 5 Figures. Accepted for publication in Phys. Lett.

Equations of general relativistic radiation hydrodynamics in Kerr space-time

Equations of fully general relativistic radiation hydrodynamics in Kerr space-time are derived. While the interactions between matter and radiation are introduced in the comoving frame, the derivatives used when describing the global evolutions of both the matter and the radiation are given in the Boyer-Lindquist frame (BLF) which is a frame fixed to the coordinate describing the central black hole. Around a rotating black hole, both the matter and the radiation are influenced by the frame-dragging effects due to the black hole's rotation. As a fixed frame, we use the locally non-rotating reference frame (LNRF) which is one of the orthonormal frame. While the special relativistic effects such as beaming effects are introduced by the Lorentz transformation connecting the comoving frame and the LNRF, the general relativistic effects such as frame-dragging and gravitational redshift are introduced by the tetrads connecting the LNRF and the BLF.Comment: Accepted for publication in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Societ

Adhesive organ regeneration in <i>Macrostomum lignano</i>

BackgroundFlatworms possess pluripotent stem cells that can give rise to all cell types, which allows them to restore lost body parts after injury or amputation. This makes flatworms excellent model systems for studying regeneration. In this study, we present the adhesive organs of a marine flatworm as a simple model system for organ regeneration. Macrostomum lignano has approximately 130 adhesive organs at the ventral side of its tail plate. One adhesive organ consists of three interacting cells: one adhesive gland cell, one releasing gland cell, and one modified epidermal cell, called an anchor cell. However, no specific markers for these cell types were available to study the regeneration of adhesive organs.ResultsWe tested 15 commercially available lectins for their ability to label adhesive organs and found one lectin (peanut agglutinin) to be specific to adhesive gland cells. We visualized the morphology of regenerating adhesive organs using lectin- and antibody staining as well as transmission electron microscopy. Our findings indicate that the two gland cells differentiate earlier than the connected anchor cells. Using EdU/lectin staining of partially amputated adhesive organs, we showed that their regeneration can proceed in two ways. First, adhesive gland cell bodies are able to survive partial amputation and reconnect with newly formed anchor cells. Second, adhesive gland cell bodies are cleared away, and the entire adhesive organ is build anew.ConclusionOur results provide the first insights into adhesive organ regeneration and describe ten new markers for differentiated cells and tissues in M. lignano. The position of adhesive organ cells within the blastema and their chronological differentiation have been shown for the first time. M. lignano can regenerate adhesive organs de novo but also replace individual anchor cells in an injured organ. Our findings contribute to a better understanding of organogenesis in flatworms and enable further molecular investigations of cell-fate decisions during regeneration

On groups generated by two positive multi-twists: Teichmueller curves and Lehmer's number

From a simple observation about a construction of Thurston, we derive several interesting facts about subgroups of the mapping class group generated by two positive multi-twists. In particular, we identify all configurations of curves for which the corresponding groups fail to be free, and show that a subset of these determine the same set of Teichmueller curves as the non-obtuse lattice triangles which were classified by Kenyon, Smillie, and Puchta. We also identify a pseudo-Anosov automorphism whose dilatation is Lehmer's number, and show that this is minimal for the groups under consideration. In addition, we describe a connection to work of McMullen on Coxeter groups and related work of Hironaka on a construction of an interesting class of fibered links.Comment: Published by Geometry and Topology at http://www.maths.warwick.ac.uk/gt/GTVol8/paper36.abs.htm

Preheated Advection Dominated Accretion Flow

All high temperature accretion solutions including ADAF are physically thick, so outgoing radiation interacts with the incoming flow, sharing as much or more resemblance with classical spherical accretion flows as with disk flows. We examine this interaction for the popular ADAF case. We find that without allowance for Compton preheating, a very restricted domain of ADAF solution is permitted and with Compton preheating included a new high temperature PADAF branch appears in the solution space. In the absence of preheating, high temperature flows do not exist when the mass accretion rate mdot == Mdot c^2 / L_E >~ 10^-1.5. Below this mass accretion rate, a roughly conical region around the hole cannot sustain high temperature ions and electrons for all flows having mdot >~ 10^-4, which may lead to a funnel possibly filled with a tenuous hot outgoing wind. If the flow starts at large radii with the usual equilibrium temperature ~10^4 K, the critical mass accretion rate is much lower, mdot \~10^-3.7 above which level no self-consistent ADAF (without preheating) can exist. However, above this critical mass accretion rate, the flow can be self-consistently maintained at high temperature if Compton preheating is considered. These solutions constitute a new branch of solutions as in spherical accretion flows. High temperature PADAF flows can exist above the critical mass accretion rate in addition to the usual cold thin disk solutions. We also find solutions where the flow near the equatorial plane accretes normally while the flow near the pole is overheated by Compton preheating, possibly becoming, a polar wind, solutions which we designate WADAF.Comment: 41 pages with 10 postscript figures (aastex5). Submitted to Ap

Objective

MRI guided cryoablation: in vivo assessment of measurin