Analysis of Different Uncertainty Activation Cross Section Data Libraries for LWR, ads and demo Neutron Spectra

This work is aimed to present the main differences of nuclear data uncertainties among three different nuclear data libraries: EAF-2007, EAF-2010 and SCALE-6.0, under different neutron spectra: LWR, ADS and DEMO (fusion

Faunistic and anatomical data on the Antarctic Opisthobranchia (Mollusca, Gastropoda) in the collections of the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences

Five opisthobranch species were collected during the Belgian and Belgian-Dutch Antarctica expeditions to the Riiser-Larsen Sea, the Princess Ragnhild Coast ("Mission Iris") (1960-1967) and Admiralty Bay (King George Island) (1987-1991). These species include Philine alata Thiele, 1912, Bathyberthella antarctica Willan & Bertsch, 1987, Notaeolidia gigas Eliot, 1905, Aegires (Anaegires) albus Thiele, 1912 and Austrodoris kerguelenensis Bergh, 1884. This material is deposited in the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences. The present contribution provides anatomical and faunistic data on this collection and extends the distributional range of several species

Síntesis óptima de un mecanismo para la marcha bípeda utilizando evolución diferencial

ResumenEl diseño de la extremidad de un robot bípedo es un punto clave para mejorar la locomoción y el desempeño de robots bípedos. El empleo de mecanismos que reproduzcan la marcha no es una tarea sencilla ya que se requiere generar un movimiento en el espacio Cartesiano con más grados de libertad que los considerados en un mecanismo. En este trabajo se propone un mecanismo planar de ocho eslabones con un grado de libertad como extremidad bípeda y se analiza su comportamiento en el seguimiento de una trayectoria similar a la marcha. Para el diseño del mecanismo propuesto se establece formalmente la síntesis dimensional como un problema de optimización numérica. Con el propósito de obtener diseños viables dentro del espacio de las soluciones reales en el problema de optimización, se incorpora un mecanismo de manejo de restricciones en el algoritmo de evolución diferencial (ED) y se analiza el comportamiento del algoritmo bajo diferentes parámetros de cruza. Resultados experimentales comprueban el enfoque de diseño en un prototipo de laboratorio.AbstractThe limb design for a biped robot is a key issue to improve the locomotion and the performance of biped robots. The use of mechanism for tracking the gait is not an easy task because the degree of freedom (d.g.f) of the Cartesian space movement does not correspond to the d.g.f of the mechanism. Hence in this paper, an eight-bar planar mechanism with a one d.o.f is proposed as biped limb and the biped gait tracking behavior in the mechanism is analyzed. A numeric optimization problem is formally stated to design the proposed mechanism based on dimensional synthesis. A constraint handling mechanism is included into the differential evolution algorithm (DE) algorithm in order to obtain mechanism design with real solutions in the optimization problem and the behavior of the algorithm with different crossover parameters is analyzed. Experimental results verify the design approach in a laboratory prototype

Ordering and finite-size effects in the dynamics of one-dimensional transient patterns

We introduce and analyze a general one-dimensional model for the description of transient patterns which occur in the evolution between two spatially homogeneous states. This phenomenon occurs, for example, during the Freedericksz transition in nematic liquid crystals.The dynamics leads to the emergence of finite domains which are locally periodic and independent of each other. This picture is substantiated by a finite-size scaling law for the structure factor. The mechanism of evolution towards the final homogeneous state is by local roll destruction and associated reduction of local wavenumber. The scaling law breaks down for systems of size comparable to the size of the locally periodic domains. For systems of this size or smaller, an apparent nonlinear selection of a global wavelength holds, giving rise to long lived periodic configurations which do not occur for large systems. We also make explicit the unsuitability of a description of transient pattern dynamics in terms of a few Fourier mode amplitudes, even for small systems with a few linearly unstable modes.Comment: 18 pages (REVTEX) + 10 postscript figures appende

The Gα12/13 family of heterotrimeric G proteins and the small GTPase RhoA link the Kaposi sarcoma-associated herpes virus G protein-coupled receptor to heme oxygenase-1 expression and tumorigenesis

Heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1), an inducible enzyme that metabolizes the heme group, is highly expressed in human Kaposi sarcoma lesions. Its expression is up-regulated by the G protein-coupled receptor from the Kaposi sarcoma-associated herpes virus (vGPCR). Although recent evidence shows that HO-1 contributes to vGPCR-induced tumorigenesis and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) expression, the molecular steps that link vGPCR to HO-1 remain unknown. Here we show that vGPCR induces HO-1 expression and transformation through the Gα12/13 family of heterotrimeric G proteins and the small GTPase RhoA. Targeted small hairpin RNA knockdown expression of Gα12, Gα13, or RhoA and inhibition of RhoA activity impair vGPCR-induced transformation and ho-1 promoter activity. Knockdown expression of RhoA also reduces vGPCR-induced VEFG-A secretion and blocks tumor growth in a murine allograft tumor model. NIH-3T3 cells expressing constitutively activated Gα13 or RhoA implanted in nude mice develop tumors displaying spindle-shaped cells that express HO-1 and VEGF-A, similarly to vGPCR-derived tumors. RhoAQL-induced tumor growth is reduced 80% by small hairpin RNA-mediated knockdown expression of HO-1 in the implanted cells. Likewise, inhibition of HO-1 activity by chronic administration of the HO-1 inhibitor tin protoporphyrin IX to mice reduces RhoAQL-induced tumor growth by 70%. Our study shows that vGPCR induces HO-1 expression through the Gα12/13/RhoA axes and shows for the first time a potential role for HO-1 as a therapeutic target in tumors where RhoA has oncogenic activity.Fil:Tanos, T. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales; Argentina.Fil:Coso, O.A. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales; Argentina

Explicit lower and upper bounds on the entangled value of multiplayer XOR games

XOR games are the simplest model in which the nonlocal properties of entanglement manifest themselves. When there are two players, it is well known that the bias --- the maximum advantage over random play --- of entangled players can be at most a constant times greater than that of classical players. Recently, P\'{e}rez-Garc\'{i}a et al. [Comm. Math. Phys. 279 (2), 2008] showed that no such bound holds when there are three or more players: the advantage of entangled players over classical players can become unbounded, and scale with the number of questions in the game. Their proof relies on non-trivial results from operator space theory, and gives a non-explicit existence proof, leading to a game with a very large number of questions and only a loose control over the local dimension of the players' shared entanglement. We give a new, simple and explicit (though still probabilistic) construction of a family of three-player XOR games which achieve a large quantum-classical gap (QC-gap). This QC-gap is exponentially larger than the one given by P\'{e}rez-Garc\'{i}a et. al. in terms of the size of the game, achieving a QC-gap of order $\sqrt{N}$ with $N^2$ questions per player. In terms of the dimension of the entangled state required, we achieve the same (optimal) QC-gap of $\sqrt{N}$ for a state of local dimension $N$ per player. Moreover, the optimal entangled strategy is very simple, involving observables defined by tensor products of the Pauli matrices. Additionally, we give the first upper bound on the maximal QC-gap in terms of the number of questions per player, showing that our construction is only quadratically off in that respect. Our results rely on probabilistic estimates on the norm of random matrices and higher-order tensors which may be of independent interest.Comment: Major improvements in presentation; results identica

Los corticoides epidurales en el tratamiento del síndrome del canal lumbar estrecho

Se presenta una serie de 67 pacientes diagnosticados de síndrome del canal lumbar estrecho, tratados todos ellos con infíltraciones epidurales de corticosteroides, asociadas a un programa de rehabilitación realizado a continuación de las inyecciones. Tras el análisis de los datos se ha observado un porcentaje de buenos resultados cercano al 80%. Asimismo, el estudio ha puesto en evidencia la influencia clara del factor rehabilitación en la calidad del resultado final de los pacientes.The authors present a study on 67 patients with degenerative lumbar spinal stenosis. The treatment consisted in epidural injections with corticosteroids and a program of physical therapy. There was 80% of good results. A clear influence of the physical therapy program on the quality of the final result, has been proved

Los corticoides epidurales en el tratamiento de la hernia discal

Se presenta una serie de 233 pacientes diagnosticados de hernia discal lumbar y tratados mediante infiltraciones epidurales de corticoides, asociadas a un programa de rehabilitación realizado a continuación de las inyecciones. Los resultados con dicho tratamiento fueron satisfactorios en un 75% de los casos. Se observó una mejor evolución en pacientes varones, en pacientes cuya profesión conlleva esfuerzo físico, en hernias discales L5-S1, y en aquellos que han seguido un programa de rehabilitación tras las infiltraciones.An study on 233 patients with lumbar disc herniation, treated by means of epidural injections of steroids, added to a physical therapy programme is presented. The results obtained were fully satisfactory in 75% of the cases. Better results were observed in male patients, in patients subject to heavy physical activity in their laboral life, in disc herniations at L5-S1 level, and finally in those patients following a physical therapy programme after injections

Benchmark low-mass objects in Moving Groups

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 2.0, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.In order to compile a sample of ultracool dwarfs that will serve as benchmarks for testing theoretical formation and evolutionary models, we selected low-mass cool (>M7) objects that are potentially members of five known young Moving Groups in the solar neighbourhood. We have studied the kinematics of the sample, finding that 49 targets belong to the young disk area, from which 36 are kinematic member of one of the five moving groups under study. Some of the identified low-mass members have been spectroscopically characterised (T-eff, log g) and confirmed as young members through a detailed study of age indicators

Gramaticalización inducida por contacto en español en contacto con la lengua maya tzutujil: el sistema pronominal átono de tercera persona

The goal of this study is to analyse both the use of lo and null object to refer to third person direct objects in an oral corpus of Tzutujil-Spanish bilinguals from the village of Chicacao, Guatemala. The corpus’s direct object marking system is characterized by two variants: a) the use of lo as the only third person direct object pronoun, i.e. as an invariable morph; b) its omission, i.e., the production of a zero morph. We put forward that these changes belong to a pronominal system reorganization process caused by the bilingual situation of the region, and an intense contact with Tzutujil, that has caused an acceleration of the grammaticalization process of the Spanish pronominal system of direct object to an object concordance.El objetivo del presente estudio es analizar la tendencia al empleo de lo o un cero fonético para la marcación del objeto directo de tercera persona en un corpus oral de bilingües tzutujil-español recogido en Chicacao, Guatemala. El sistema de marcación del objeto analizado se caracterizaría básicamente por dos fenómenos: a) el empleo de una única forma lo invariable que ha perdido la morfología de género y número; b) la omisión de esta, esto es, un cero fonético. A través de su análisis, mostraremos que estos cambios se enmarcan dentro de un proceso de reorganización del sistema pronominal que se ha producido debido a la situación de bilingüismo y contacto intenso con el tzutujil, y que se manifiesta en una aceleración del proceso de gramaticalización del sistema pronominal de objeto directo del español hacia una concordancia de objeto