790 research outputs found
The fourth-revolution in the water sector encounters the digital revolution
The so-called fourth revolution in the water sector will encounter the Big data and Artificial Intelligence (AI) revolution. The current data surplus stemming from all types of devices together with the relentless increase in computer capacity is revolutionizing almost all existing sectors, and the water sector will not be an exception. Combining the power of Big data analytics (including AI) with existing and future urban water infrastructure represents a significant untapped opportunity for the operation, maintenance, and rehabilitation of urban water infrastructure to achieve economic and environmental sustainability. However, such progress may catalyze socio-economic changes and cross sector boundaries (e.g., water service, health, business) as the appearance of new needs and business models will influence the job market. Such progress will impact the academic sector as new forms of research based on large amounts of data will be possible, and new research needs will be requested by the technology industrial sector. Research and development enabling new technological approaches and more effective management strategies are needed to ensure that the emerging framework for the water sector will meet future societal needs. The feature further elucidates the complexities and possibilities associated with such collaborations.Manel Garrido-Baserba and Diego Rosso acknowledge the United States Department of Energy (CERC-WET US Project 525 2.5). LluĂs Corominas acknowledges the Ministry of Economy and competitiveness for the Ramon and Cajal grant (RYC2013-465 14595) and the following I3. We thank Generalitat de Catalunya through Consolidated Research Group 2017 SGR 1318. ICRA researchers acknowledge funding from the CERCA program.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft
Observation of the decay Îb0 â Ïc1pÏâ
The Cabibbo-suppressed decay Î 0 b â Ïc1pÏ â is observed for the first time using data from proton-proton collisions corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 6 fbâ1 , collected with the LHCb detector at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV. Evidence for the Î 0 b â Ïc2pÏ â decay is also found. Using the Î 0 b â Ïc1pKâ decay as normalisation channel, the ratios of branching fractions are measured to be B Î 0 b â Ïc1pÏ â B Î0 b â Ïc1pKâ = (6.59 ± 1.01 ± 0.22) Ă 10â2 , B Î 0 b â Ïc2pÏ â B Î0 b â Ïc1pÏâ = 0.95 ± 0.30 ± 0.04 ± 0.04 , B Î 0 b â Ïc2pKâ B Î0 b â Ïc1pKâ = 1.06 ± 0.05 ± 0.04 ± 0.04 , where the first uncertainty is statistical, the second is systematic and the third is due to the uncertainties in the branching fractions of Ïc1,2 â J/ÏÎł decays. Keywords: B physics, Branching fraction, Hadron-Hadron scattering (experiments), QCD, Qua
Aproximación a la checklist de los gipsófitos ibéricos
Approximation to the Iberian gypsophytes checklist.
The close relationship between some kinds of soils and the flora growing on them has been long known. Gypsum soils stand as a prominent example of this relationship, since some plants exclusively grow on gypsum outcrops. Nowadays this close relationship is known as gypsophily and the plant species exhibiting it are called gypsophytes. As Cavanilles already found out in the 18th century, the Iberian flora is rich in gypsophytes. From then on many botanists have considerably enlarged the list of gypsophytes. However we still lack a more or less conclusive catalogue of the Iberian gypsophytes. Only some publications dealing with the gypsum flora or vegetation may serve as references for the drafting of a preliminary
catalogue. This idea has recently inspired a preliminary list of gypsophytes which has been later enlarged with the addition of new species recorded now and then in a number of specific Floras and other works of a general scope. On the basis of this list, 12 botanists adept at gypsum flora have been asked to rank the liking of these species for gypsum soils. The gypsophilous character of 140 species have been thus ranked on a scale ranging from 1 to 5
(with 5 representing an absolute liking for gypsum soils). According to the median values, some 50 species can be considered as either absolute or preferent gypsophytes
Standards in semen examination:publishing reproducible and reliable data based on high-quality methodology
Biomedical science is rapidly developing in terms of more transparency, openness and reproducibility of scientific publications. This is even more important for all studies that are based on results from basic semen examination. Recently two concordant documents have been published: the 6th edition of the WHO Laboratory Manual for the Examination and Processing of Human Semen, and the International Standard ISO 23162:2021. With these tools, we propose that authors should be instructed to follow these laboratory methods in order to publish studies in peer-reviewed journals, preferable by using a checklist as suggested in an Appendix to this article.Peer reviewe
FamĂlies botĂ niques de plantes medicinals
Facultat de Farmà cia, Universitat de Barcelona. Ensenyament: Grau de Farmà cia, Assignatura: Botà nica FarmacÚutica, Curs: 2013-2014, Coordinadors: Joan Simon, CÚsar Blanché i
Maria Bosch.Els materials que aquĂ es presenten sĂłn els recull de 175 treballs dâuna famĂlia botĂ nica dâinterĂšs medicinal realitzats de manera individual. Els treballs han estat realitzat
per la totalitat dels estudiants dels grups M-2 i M-3 de lâassignatura BotĂ nica FarmacĂšutica
durant els mesos dâabril i maig del curs 2013-14. Tots els treballs sâhan dut a terme a travĂ©s de la plataforma de GoogleDocs i han estat tutoritzats pel professor de lâassignatura i revisats i finalment co-avaluats entre els propis estudiants. Lâobjectiu principal de lâactivitat ha estat fomentar lâaprenentatge autĂČnom i col·laboratiu en BotĂ nica farmacĂšutica
Autoantibodies neutralizing type I IFNs are present in ~4% of uninfected individuals over 70 years old and account for ~20% of COVID-19 deaths
Publisher Copyright: © 2021 The Authors, some rights reserved.Circulating autoantibodies (auto-Abs) neutralizing high concentrations (10 ng/ml; in plasma diluted 1:10) of IFN-alpha and/or IFN-omega are found in about 10% of patients with critical COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) pneumonia but not in individuals with asymptomatic infections. We detect auto-Abs neutralizing 100-fold lower, more physiological, concentrations of IFN-alpha and/or IFN-omega (100 pg/ml; in 1:10 dilutions of plasma) in 13.6% of 3595 patients with critical COVID-19, including 21% of 374 patients >80 years, and 6.5% of 522 patients with severe COVID-19. These antibodies are also detected in 18% of the 1124 deceased patients (aged 20 days to 99 years; mean: 70 years). Moreover, another 1.3% of patients with critical COVID-19 and 0.9% of the deceased patients have auto-Abs neutralizing high concentrations of IFN-beta. We also show, in a sample of 34,159 uninfected individuals from the general population, that auto-Abs neutralizing high concentrations of IFN-alpha and/or IFN-omega are present in 0.18% of individuals between 18 and 69 years, 1.1% between 70 and 79 years, and 3.4% >80 years. Moreover, the proportion of individuals carrying auto-Abs neutralizing lower concentrations is greater in a subsample of 10,778 uninfected individuals: 1% of individuals 80 years. By contrast, auto-Abs neutralizing IFN-beta do not become more frequent with age. Auto-Abs neutralizing type I IFNs predate SARS-CoV-2 infection and sharply increase in prevalence after the age of 70 years. They account for about 20% of both critical COVID-19 cases in the over 80s and total fatal COVID-19 cases.Peer reviewe
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