Noether's Symmetry Theorem for Variational and Optimal Control Problems with Time Delay

We extend the DuBois-Reymond necessary optimality condition and Noether's symmetry theorem to the time delay variational setting. Both Lagrangian and Hamiltonian versions of Noether's theorem are proved, covering problems of the calculus of variations and optimal control with delays.Comment: This is a preprint of a paper whose final and definite form will appear in the international journal Numerical Algebra, Control and Optimization (NACO). Paper accepted for publication 15-March-201

Subversion of early innate antiviral responses during antibody-dependent enhancement of Dengue virus infection induces severe disease in immunocompetent mice

Dengue is a mosquito-borne disease caused by one of four serotypes of Dengue virus (DENV-1–4). Epidemiologic and observational studies demonstrate that the majority of severe dengue cases, dengue hemorrhagic fever and dengue shock syndrome (DHF/DSS), occurs predominantly in either individuals with cross-reactive immunity following a secondary heterologous infection or in infants with primary DENV infections born from dengue-immune mothers, suggesting that B-cell-mediated and antibody responses impact on disease evolution. We demonstrate here that B cells play a pivotal role in host responses against primary DENV infection in mice. After infection, μMT[superscript −/−] mice showed increased viral loads followed by severe disease manifestation characterized by intense thrombocytopenia, hemoconcentration, cytokine production and massive liver damage that culminated in death. In addition, we show that poly and monoclonal anti-DENV-specific antibodies can sufficiently increase viral replication through a suppression of early innate antiviral responses and enhance disease manifestation, so that a mostly non-lethal illness becomes a fatal disease resembling human DHF/DSS. Finally, treatment with intravenous immunoglobulin containing anti-DENV antibodies confirmed the potential enhancing capacity of subneutralizing antibodies to mediate virus infection and replication and induce severe disease manifestation of DENV-infected mice. Thus, our results show that humoral responses unleashed during DENV infections can exert protective or pathological outcomes and provide insight into the pathogenesis of this important human pathogen

Current climate, but also long‐term climate changes and human impacts, determine the geographic distribution of European mammal diversity

AIM: Historical climate variations, current climate and human impacts are known to influence current species richness, but their effects on phylogenetic and trait diversity have been seldom studied. We investigated the relationship of these three factors with the independent variations of species, phylogenetic and trait diversity of European mammals. Considering the position of the 0 ⁰C isotherm in the Last Glacial Maximum as a tipping point, we tested the following hypotheses: northern European assemblages host fewer species than southern European ones; northern areas harbour trait and phylogenetically clustered assemblages, while the more stable southern areas host random or overdispersed assemblages; and species richness correlates positively with human influence, while phylogenetic and trait diversity show clustered patterns in areas with stronger human influence. LOCATION: Western Palaearctic. TIME PERIOD: Current and Late Pleistocene effects on present-day diversity. MAJOR TAXA STUDIED: Terrestrial mammals. METHODS: We used a novel analytical approach based on distance matrices to separate the independent variations of species, phylogenetic and trait diversity, and assessed their relationships with current climate, climate stability and human influence through structural equation models. RESULTS: The species-poor assemblages from northern Europe show higher phylogenetic and trait clustering than the more stable richer southern areas. However, no assemblage presented trait or phylogenetic over dispersion. Current climate is the primary driver of phylogenetic and trait diversity, while species richness is affected similarly by both current and past climates. Higher human influence correlates positively with species richness and trait diversity, both directly and by mediating indirect effects of present climate. MAIN CONCLUSIONS: Current climate, climate stability and human influence affect the studied aspects of diversity, although the form and magnitude of their effects vary through space. Importantly, higher levels of human disturbances correlate with more species rich and trait diverse assemblages, an apparently counterintuitive result that deserves further study.Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades, Grant/Award Number: IJCI-2014-19502; Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, Grant/Award Number: CEEIND/03425/2017; Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de Goiás, Grant/Award Number: 465610/2014-5; Universidad de Alcalá; “Ayudas de movilidad de personal docente y personal investigador” travel grants program; Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico, Grant/Award Number: 306694/2018-2, 465610/2014-5, P2011BR0071, and PVE 314523/2014-6; EU Seventh Framework Programme, Grant/Award Number: IEF 331623.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Variational problems of Herglotz type with time delay: DuBois-Reymond condition and Noether's first theorem

We extend the DuBois-Reymond necessary optimality condition and Noether's first theorem to variational problems of Herglotz type with time delay. Our results provide, as corollaries, the DuBois-Reymond necessary optimality condition and the first Noether theorem for variational problems with time delay recently proved in [Numer. Algebra Control Optim. 2(2012), no. 3, 619-630]. Our main result is also a generalization of the first Noether-type theorem for the generalized variational principle of Herglotz proved in [Topol. Methods Nonlinear Anal. 20(2002), no. 2, 261-273]

Marcel Gautherot na revista Módulo - ensaios fotográficos, imagens do Brasil: da cultura material e imaterial à arquitetura

Este artigo tece considerações sobre as fotografias de Marcel Gautherot na Módulo, Revista de Arquitetura e Artes Plásticas fundada em 1955 por Oscar Niemeyer, quando ele já era conhecido nos anais da arquitetura internacional. O texto visa levantar questões de método diante das lacunas da historiografia dos periódicos no país e, sobretudo, destacar a importância daMódulo e de suas reportagens fotográficas, lembrando o seu papel na afirmação e difusão da arquitetura moderna brasileira, além de refletir sobre o anonimato de fotógrafos nas publicações do gênero. A revista evidencia que para os homens daquela geração, a nova arquitetura era indissociável da afirmação da identidade nacional, ao lado das artes plásticas, do patrimônio histórico, e das representações da cultura material e imaterial - arquitetura vernacular, folclore, jogo da capoeira, arte popular (carrancas de proa), e outros temas que são, justamente, os das séries fotográficas do acervo de Marcel Gautherot, figurando nos números da primeira fase da revista até os anos 1960. A análise destaca, especialmente, o registro fotográfico da construção de Brasília, foco principal da retórica programática do periódico

Production of intravenous human dengue immunoglobulin from Brazilian-blood donors

Dengue represents an important health problem in Brazil and therefore there is a great need to develop a vaccine or treatment. The neutralization of the dengue virus by a specific antibody can potentially be applied to therapy. The present paper describes, for the first time, the preparation of Immunoglobulin specific for the dengue virus (anti-DENV IgG), collected from screened Brazilian blood-donations. Production was performed using the classic Cohn-Oncley process with minor modifications. The anti-DENV IgG was biochemically and biophysically characterized and fulfilled the requirements defined by the European Pharmacopoeia. The finished product was able to neutralize different virus serotypes (DENV-1, DENV-2, and DENV-3), while a commercial IgG collected from American blood donations was found to have low anti-dengue antibody titers. Overall, this anti-DENV IgG represents an important step in the study of the therapeutic potential and safety of a specific antibody that neutralizes the dengue virus in humans

Outcomes of elective and non-elective fenestrated-branched endovascular aortic repair for treatment of thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysms

Copyright © 2023 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.This work was presented at the 143rd Annual Meeting of the American Surgical Association, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, April 20-22, 2023.Objective: To describe outcomes after elective and non-elective fenestrated-branched endovascular aortic repair (FB-EVAR) for thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysms (TAAAs). Background: FB-EVAR has been increasingly utilized to treat TAAAs; however, outcomes after non-elective versus elective repair are not well described. Methods: Clinical data of consecutive patients undergoing FB-EVAR for TAAAs at 24 centers (2006-2021) were reviewed. Endpoints including early mortality and major adverse events (MAEs), all-cause mortality, and aortic-related mortality (ARM), were analyzed and compared in patients who had non-elective versus elective repair. Results: A total of 2603 patients (69% males; mean age 72±10 year old) underwent FB-EVAR for TAAAs. Elective repair was performed in 2187 patients (84%) and non-elective repair in 416 patients [16%; 268 (64%) symptomatic, 148 (36%) ruptured]. Non-elective FB-EVAR was associated with higher early mortality (17% vs 5%, P <0.001) and rates of MAEs (34% vs 20%, P <0.001). Median follow-up was 15 months (interquartile range, 7-37 months). Survival and cumulative incidence of ARM at 3 years were both lower for non-elective versus elective patients (50±4% vs 70±1% and 21±3% vs 7±1%, P <0.001). On multivariable analysis, non-elective repair was associated with increased risk of all-cause mortality (hazard ratio, 1.92; 95% CI] 1.50-2.44; P <0.001) and ARM (hazard ratio, 2.43; 95% CI, 1.63-3.62; P <0.001). Conclusions: Non-elective FB-EVAR of symptomatic or ruptured TAAAs is feasible, but carries higher incidence of early MAEs and increased all-cause mortality and ARM than elective repair. Long-term follow-up is warranted to justify the treatment.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio