Transport estimates at the western section of the Strait of Gibraltar: A combined experimental and numerical modeling study

Three‐yearlong time series of Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP) observations at a single station in Espartel Sill (Strait of Gibraltar) were used to compute an outflow of Q2 = −0.82 Sv through the main channel. The cross‐strait structure of the velocity field or the outflow through a secondary channel north of the submarine ridge of Majuan in Espartel section is not captured by observations so that an improved version of a numerical model (CEPOM) has been used to fill the observational gap. Previously, the model performance has been checked against historical data sets by comparing harmonic constants of the main diurnal and semidiurnal constituents from observed and modeled data at different sites of the strait. Considering the great complexity of tidal dynamics in the area, the comparison is quite satisfactory and validates the model to infer the exchange at longer timescales. Using a "climatological" April in the simulation, extracting a "single station" from the model at the same position as the monitoring station and processing the data similarly, the model gives an outflow through the southern channel 13% higher than observations. The inclusion of the cross‐strait structure of velocity reduces the computed outflow through the southern channel, whereas the contribution of the northern channel brings the total outflow close to that computed using a single station (5% smaller). If the same correction is applied to observations, the total outflow would reduce to Q2 = −0.78 Sv. The paper also assesses the importance of eddy fluxes to the total outflow, their contribution being negligible (≤5%)

Thermal transport in glassy selenium: The role of low-frequency librations

The experimental curves giving the temperature dependence of the thermal conductivity of glassy selenium are considered in detail. The observed behavior can be taken into account quantitatively if the densities of states for short-wavelength phonons as well as for low-energy librations arising from computer simulations are used for the calculations. In particular, it is shown that the lowest frequency excitations of a chain of selenium atoms can give due account of the plateau observed at temperatures about 2-10 K. The implications of the present findings for the current debate regarding the mechanisms for thermal transport in glasses are finally discussedDirección General de Investigación Científica y Técnica PB92-0114-C0

Time‐spatial variability observed in velocity of propagation of the internal bore in the Strait of Gibraltar

Some aspects of the time‐spatial variability of the phase speed of the internal bore generated almost every tidal cycle in Camarinal Sill, are revised using a set of high resolution experimental data collected in two different positions of the Strait during May 2003. This variability is mainly driven by the intense tidal currents, comparable with the intrinsic propagation velocity of the first mode baroclinic bore. It is shown that the importance of the diurnal tide in the Strait of Gibraltar induces a considerable diurnal inequality on the bore velocity, with an observed maximum difference of 0.7 ms−1 between the speed of two consecutives bores propagating along the eastern part of the Strait. A regularly spatial pattern has been also found: the internal bore reaches its maximum velocity in Tarifa Narrows. A theoretical estimation predicts an extreme phase speed of 2.6 ms−1 during our period of study

Low-frequency excitations in glassy selenium: A comparison of neutron-scattering and molecular-dynamics results

The microscopic low-frequency dynamics of glassy selenium is investigated by means of the concurrent use of neutron inelastic scattering and computer simulations. A separation of the dynamic response in terms of intra- and interchain processes is achieved from the analysis of the simulation results. The S(Q,E) dynamic structure factors are analyzed in terms of the frequency moments or from a model scattering law, and the wave-vector dependence of the relevant quantities is established. Finally, the anomalous behavior of the heat capacity at moderately low temperatures is shown to be originated by mostly interchain interactions.Dirección General de Investigación Científica y Técnica PB89-0037-C

Rotational dynamics in the plastic-crystal phase of ethanol: Relevance for understanding the dynamics during the structural glass transition

12 págs.; 14 figs.; 1 tab.; 1 apéndiceThe reorientational dynamics within the rotationally disordered cubic plastic phase of solid ethanol is investigated by means of the concurrent use of computer molecular dynamics and quasielastic neutron scattering. Motions involving widely different time scales are shown to take place above the calorimetric >glass transition> which is centered at Tg≈97 K. These correspond to well-defined reorientations belonging to the cubic point group. The dynamics of this solid exhibits features remarkably close to those of the supercooled liquid that can exist at the same temperature. Such similitude of dynamic behavior serves to provide some clues for the understanding of the nature of molecular motions at temperatures close to the canonical liquid→glass transition. ©2000 The American Physical Society.This work was supported in part by Grant No. DGICYTPB95- 0072-C03 (Spain). Work at ANL was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, BES–Materials Sciences, under Contract No. W-31-109-ENG-38.Peer Reviewe

Final implementation of SEACON: new scope and new open system platform.

SEACON is a hybrid (heuristic & algorithmic) expert system for contingency analysis and preventive or corrective control of the transmission network, that has been recently redesigned to implement new end user requirements and to increase its performance. This paper describes the main results and the operational experience from the development and implementation of a new system based on the initial idea. Software reuse strategies became capital in this project. The new design includes advanced functionalities demanded by the practical use of the former system. Because of the high performance of the new system (up to fifteen times faster than the original) and its friendly user interface, SEACON has become a very valuable tool among dispatchers. SEACON is in operation in the Red Electrica’s National Control Centre and in Iberdrola’s Central and Regional Control Centres, dealing with transmission and subtransmission networks (ranging between 4OOkV and 66kV), attached to the on-line state estimators and screening over 2000 possible contingencies. Results are presented using natural language, and a client-server scheme provided for corporate access. KeywOrdr - Expert system, security assessment, contingency analysis, power systems, real-time system

The Hydropathy Index of the HCDR3 Region of the B-Cell Receptor Identifies Two Subgroups of IGHV-Mutated Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia Patients With Distinct Outcome

© 2021 Rodríguez-Caballero, Fuentes Herrero, Oliva Ariza, Criado, Alcoceba, Prieto, Pérez Caro, García-Montero, González Díaz, Forconi, Sarmento-Ribeiro, Almeida and Orfao.The HCDR3 sequences of the B-cell receptor (BCR) undergo constraints in length, amino acid use, and charge during maturation of B-cell precursors and after antigen encounter, leading to BCR and antibodies with high affinity to specific antigens. Chronic lymphocytic leukemia consists of an expansion of B-cells with a mixed immature and “antigen-experienced” phenotype, with either a mutated (M-CLL) or unmutated (U-CLL) tumor BCR, associated with distinct patient outcomes. Here, we investigated the hydropathy index of the BCR of 138 CLL patients and its association with the IGHV mutational status and patient outcome. Overall, two clearly distinct subgroups of M-CLL patients emerged, based on a neutral (mean hydropathy index of -0.1) vs. negatively charged BCR (mean hydropathy index of -1.1) with molecular features closer to those of B-cell precursors and peripheral/mature B-cells, respectively. Despite that M-CLL with neutral HCDR3 did not show traits associated with a mature B-cell repertoire, important differences in IGHV gene usage of tumor cells and patient outcome were observed in this subgroup of patients once compared to both U-CLL and M-CLL with negatively charged HCDR3 sequences. Compared to M-CLL with negatively charged HCDR3 sequences, M-CLL with neutral HCDR3 sequences showed predominance of men, more advanced stages of the disease, and a greater frequency of genetic alterations—e.g., del(17p)—together with a higher rate of disease progression and shorter time to therapy (TTT), independently of other prognostic factors. Our data suggest that the hydropathy index of the HCDR3 sequences of CLL cells allows the identification of a subgroup of M-CLL with intermediate prognostic features between U-CLL and the more favorable subgroup of M-CLL with a negatively charged BCR.This work was supported by the following grants: FS/37-2017, from the Fundación Memoria D. Samuel Solórzano, Universidad de Salamanca; FIS PI17/00399-FEDER, from the Fondo de Investigación Sanitaria of Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain; 0639_IDIAL_NET_3_E, from cooperative network EPINTERREG V A España Portugal (POCTEP); and ECRIN-M3, Accelerator Award Full, Cancer Research UK, Fundación Cientıfíca de la Asociación Española Contra el Cáncer (AECC), Fondazione AIRC per la Ricerca sul Cancro.

Immune Profiling of Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells at Pancreas Acute Rejection Episodes in Kidney-Pancreas Transplant Recipients

Profiling of circulating immune cells provides valuable insight to the pathophysiology of acute rejection in organ transplantation. Herein we characterized the peripheral blood mononuclear cells in simultaneous kidney-pancreas transplant recipients. We conducted a retrospective analysis in a biopsy-matched cohort (n = 67) and compared patients with biopsy proven acute rejection (BPAR; 41%) to those without rejection (No-AR). We observed that CD3+ T cells, both CD8+ and CD4+, as well as CD19+ B cells were increased in patients with BPAR, particularly in biopsies performed in the early post-transplant period (<3 months). During this period immune subsets presented a good discriminative ability (CD4+ AUC 0.79; CD8+ AUC 0.80; B cells AUC 0.86; p < 0.05) and outperformed lipase (AUC 0.62; p = 0.12) for the diagnosis of acute rejection. We further evaluated whether this could be explained by differences in frequencies prior to transplantation. Patients presenting with early post-transplant rejection (<3 months) had a significant increase in T-cell frequencies pre-transplant, both CD4+ T cells and CD8+ T cells (p < 0.01), which were associated with a significant inferior rejection-free graft survival. T cell frequencies in peripheral blood correlated with pancreas acute rejection episodes, and variations prior to transplantation were associated with pancreas early acute rejection.Copyright © 2022 Rovira, Ramirez-Bajo, Bañón-Maneus, Hierro-Garcia, Lazo-Rodriguez, Piñeiro, Montagud-Marrahi, Cucchiari, Revuelta, Cuatrecasas, Campistol, Ricart, Diekmann, Garcia-Criado and Ventura-Aguiar

Arctic tundra shrubification: a review of mechanisms and impacts on ecosystem carbon balance

Vegetation composition shifts, and in particular, shrub expansion across the Arctic tundra are some of the most important and widely observed responses of high-latitude ecosystems to rapid climate warming. These changes in vegetation potentially alter ecosystem carbon balances by affecting a complex set of soil-plant-atmosphere interactions. In this review, we synthesize the literature on (a) observed shrub expansion, (b) key climatic and environmental controls and mechanisms that affect shrub expansion, (c) impacts of shrub expansion on ecosystem carbon balance, and (d) research gaps and future directions to improve process representations in land models. A broad range of evidence, including in-situ observations, warming experiments, and remotely sensed vegetation indices have shown increases in growth and abundance of woody plants, particularly tall deciduous shrubs, and advancing shrublines across the circumpolar Arctic. This recent shrub expansion is affected by several interacting factors including climate warming, accelerated nutrient cycling, changing disturbance regimes, and local variation in topography and hydrology. Under warmer conditions, tall deciduous shrubs can be more competitive than other plant functional types in tundra ecosystems because of their taller maximum canopy heights and often dense canopy structure. Competitive abilities of tall deciduous shrubs vs herbaceous plants are also controlled by variation in traits that affect carbon and nutrient investments and retention strategies in leaves, stems, and roots. Overall, shrub expansion may affect tundra carbon balances by enhancing ecosystem carbon uptake and altering ecosystem respiration, and through complex feedback mechanisms that affect snowpack dynamics, permafrost degradation, surface energy balance, and litter inputs. Observed and projected tall deciduous shrub expansion and the subsequent effects on surface energy and carbon balances may alter feedbacks to the climate system. Land models, including those integrated in Earth System Models, need to account for differences in plant traits that control competitive interactions to accurately predict decadal- to centennial-scale tundra vegetation and carbon dynamics