Training-induced inversion of spontaneous exchange bias field on La1.5Ca0.5CoMnO6

In this work we report the synthesis and structural, electronic and magnetic properties of La1.5Ca0.5CoMnO6 double-perovskite. This is a re-entrant spin cluster material which exhibits a non-negligible negative exchange bias effect when it is cooled in zero magnetic field from an unmagnetized state down to low temperature. X-ray powder diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and magnetometry results indicate mixed valence state at Co site, leading to competing magnetic phases and uncompensated spins at the magnetic interfaces. We compare the results for this Ca-doped material with those reported for the resemblant compound La1.5Sr0.5CoMnO6, and discuss the much smaller spontaneous exchange bias effect observed for the former in terms of its structural and magnetic particularities. For La1.5Ca0.5CoMnO6, when successive magnetization loops are carried, the spontaneous exchange bias field inverts its sign from negative to positive from the first to the second measurement. We discuss this behavior based on the disorder at the magnetic interfaces, related to the presence of a glassy phase. This compound also exhibits a large conventional exchange bias, for which there is no sign inversion of the exchange bias field for consecutive cycles

Aplicação de IBA para o enraizamento de miniestacas de Eucalyptus benthamii Maiden & Cambage x Eucalyptus dunnii Maiden.

O Eucalyptus apresenta grande importância no setor florestal e muitos avanços na área do melhoramento foram conquistados com o advento da biotecnologia. Contudo, alguns genótipos promissores ainda não possuem protocolos de multiplicação com técnicas de clonagem, como a miniestaquia. Objetivou-se avaliar concentrações de IBA na sobrevivência, enraizamento e vigor vegetativo de miniestacas de E. benthamii x E. dunnii, com a determinação da dose de máxima eficiência técnica. Minicepas dos clones H12, H19 e H20 foram manejadas em minijardim clonal em sistema semi-hidropônico. Para o enraizamento, mergulhou-se a porção basal da miniestaca em soluções hidroalcoólicas, cujas concentrações foram: 0, 2.000, 4.000, 6.000 e 8.000 mg L-1 de IBA. O experimento foi conduzido no delineamento inteiramente casualizado, sendo constituído por três clones e cinco concentrações de IBA, com cinco repetições, contendo dez miniestacas por repetição. O IBA influenciou positivamente os processos rizogênicos das miniestacas com resposta diferenciada entre os clones, a qual variou de 30,32 a 55,45% de enraizamento. Para os clones H12 e H19, os incrementos positivos ocorreram até a maior concentração de IBA. Contudo, a faixa situada entre os tratamentos de 4.000 e 6.000 mg L-1 de IBA promoveu os melhores resultados de enraizamento para o clone H20

Miniestaquia de Eucalyptus benthamii × Eucalyptus dunnii: ( II ) sobrevivência e enraizamento de miniestacas em função das coletas e estações do ano.

O trabalho teve como objetivo avaliar a técnica de miniestaquia na clonagem de Eucalyptus benthamii × Eucalyptus dunnii ao longo das estações do ano quanto à sobrevivência e enraizamento de miniestacas. As minicepas dos clones H12, H19 e H20 foram manejadas durante 352 dias em minijardim clonal sob sistema semi-hidropônico em leito de areia com solução nutritiva fornecida por gotejamento, efetuando-se 27 coletas sucessivas de brotações durante as quatro estações do ano (primavera, verão, outono e inverno). Mergulhou-se a porção basal da miniestaca durante 10 segundos em solução hidroalcoólica (1:1 v/v) de concentração de 2.000 mg L-1 de AIB. O experimento foi conduzido em delineamento inteiramente casualizado contendo cinco repetições e vinte miniestacas por repetição. O enraizamento das miniestacas variou conforme o clone e mostrou-se muito sensível às estações do ano e às oscilações da temperatura. Os melhores índices de enraizamento foram registrados nas estações mais frias onde variou de 19,59% a 56,20% e os menores nas estações mais quentes, com 4,62% a 8,50%. Os clones H19 e H20 apresentaram os maiores índices de enraizamento nas quatro estações do ano

Miniestaquia de Eucalyptus benthamii × Eucalyptus dunnii: ( I ) sobrevivência de miniestacas e produção de miniestacas em função das coletas e estações do ano.

O trabalho teve como objetivo avaliar a técnica de miniestaquia na clonagem de Eucalyptus benthamii × Eucalyptus dunnii ao longo das estações do ano quanto à sobrevivência de minicepas e à produção de miniestacas. As minicepas dos clones H12, H19 e H20 foram manejadas durante 352 dias em minijardim clonal sob sistema semi-hidropônico em leito de areia com solução nutritiva fornecida por gotejamento, efetuando-se 27 coletas sucessivas de brotações durante as quatro estações do ano (primavera, verão, outono e inverno). O experimento foi conduzido no delineamento inteiramente casualizado contendo cinco repetições e quatro minicepas por repetição. As minicepas apresentaram elevado percentual de sobrevivência (89,68%) após 27 coletas sucessivas de brotações, indicando alta longevidade como fontes fornecedoras de propágulos. A produção de miniestaca variou conforme o clone e mostraram-se sensíveis às estações do ano e às oscilações da temperatura. A maior produção ocorreu nas estações consideradas mais quentes (primavera e verão) com variação de 635,42 a 852,64 miniestacas m-2, e a menor nas estações mais frias (outono e inverno) com 592,38 a 629,36 miniestacas m-2. A produção anual de miniestacas foi de 18.934,76; 20.942,27 e 20.748,14 miniestacas m-2 ano-1, respectivamente para os clones H12, H19 e H20

Compressed Data Structures for Dynamic Sequences

We consider the problem of storing a dynamic string $S$ over an alphabet $\Sigma=\{\,1,\ldots,\sigma\,\}$ in compressed form. Our representation supports insertions and deletions of symbols and answers three fundamental queries: $\mathrm{access}(i,S)$ returns the $i$-th symbol in $S$, $\mathrm{rank}_a(i,S)$ counts how many times a symbol $a$ occurs among the first $i$ positions in $S$, and $\mathrm{select}_a(i,S)$ finds the position where a symbol $a$ occurs for the $i$-th time. We present the first fully-dynamic data structure for arbitrarily large alphabets that achieves optimal query times for all three operations and supports updates with worst-case time guarantees. Ours is also the first fully-dynamic data structure that needs only $nH_k+o(n\log\sigma)$ bits, where $H_k$ is the $k$-th order entropy and $n$ is the string length. Moreover our representation supports extraction of a substring $S[i..i+\ell]$ in optimal $O(\log n/\log\log n + \ell/\log_{\sigma}n)$ time

Bone strain index as a predictor of further vertebral fracture in osteoporotic women: An artificial intelligence-based analysis

Background Osteoporosis is an asymptomatic disease of high prevalence and incidence, leading to bone fractures burdened by high mortality and disability, mainly when several subsequent fractures occur. A fragility fracture predictive model, Artificial Intelligence-based, to identify dual X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) variables able to characterise those patients who are prone to further fractures called Bone Strain Index, was evaluated in this study. Methods In a prospective, longitudinal, multicentric study 172 female outpatients with at least one vertebral fracture at the first observation were enrolled. They performed a spine X-ray to calculate spine deformity index (SDI) and a lumbar and femoral DXA scan to assess bone mineral density (BMD) and bone strain index (BSI) at baseline and after a follow-up period of 3 years in average. At the end of the follow-up, 93 women developed a further vertebral fracture. The further vertebral fracture was considered as one unit increase of SDI. We assessed the predictive capacity of supervised Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) to distinguish women who developed a further fracture from those without it, and to detect those variables providing the maximal amount of relevant information to discriminate the two groups. ANNs choose appropriate input data automatically (TWIST-system, Training With Input Selection and Testing). Moreover, we built a semantic connectivity map usingthe Auto Contractive Map to provide further insights about the convoluted connections between the osteoporotic variables under consideration and the two scenarios (further fracture vs no further fracture). Results TWIST system selected 5 out of 13 available variables: age, menopause age, BMI, FTot BMC, FTot BSI. With training testing procedure, ANNs reached predictive accuracy of 79.36%, with a sensitivity of 75% and a specificity of 83.72%. The semantic connectivity map highlighted the role of BSI in predicting the risk of a further fracture. Conclusions Artificial Intelligence is a useful method to analyse a complex system like that regarding osteoporosis, able to identify patients prone to a further fragility fracture. BSI appears to be a useful DXA index in identifying those patients who are at risk of further vertebral fractures. Copyright

West Nile virus: the Italian national transplant network reaction to an alert in the north-eastern region, Italy 2011

We report four cases of West Nile virus (WNV) transmission following a single multiorgan donation in north-eastern Italy. The transmissions were promptly detected by local transplant centres. The donor had been tested for WNV by nucleic acid amplification test (NAT) prior to transplantation and was negative. There were no detected errors in the nationally implemented WNV safety protocols

Effects of Extracorporeal Magnetic Stimulation in Fecal Incontinence.

Background: Fecal incontinence (FI) is a common condition that has devastating consequences for patients' QOL. In some patients, the conventional functional pelvic floor electrical stimulation has been effective but is an invasive and embarrassing treatment. The object of the study was to evaluate the feasibility of functional extracorporeal magnetic stimulation (FMS) in strengthening the pelvic floor muscles without an anal plug and the embarrassment of undressing. Materials and Methods: Thirty patients (26 female and 4 males) with FI were enrolled. All patients were assessed during a specialized coloproctology evaluation followed by endoanal ultrasonography and anorectal manometry. All patients underwent an FMS treatment once weekly for 8 weeks. Patients' outcome was assessed by the Cleveland Clinic Fecal Incontinence Score (CCFIS) and by the fecal incontinence QOL questionnaire (FIQL). Results: After 8 weeks, the number of solid and liquid stool leakage per week was significantly reduced (p<0.05) with a significant improvement of the CCFIS and of the FIQL (p<0.05). Moreover, the authors recorded a missed recruitment of the agonist and antagonists' defecation muscles. Conclusion: FMS is a safe, non-invasive and painless treatment for FI. It could be recommended for selected patients with non-surgical FI to ensure a rapid clinical improvement

Automating Agential Reasoning: Proof-Calculi and Syntactic Decidability for STIT Logics

This work provides proof-search algorithms and automated counter-model extraction for a class of STIT logics. With this, we answer an open problem concerning syntactic decision procedures and cut-free calculi for STIT logics. A new class of cut-free complete labelled sequent calculi G3LdmL^m_n, for multi-agent STIT with at most n-many choices, is introduced. We refine the calculi G3LdmL^m_n through the use of propagation rules and demonstrate the admissibility of their structural rules, resulting in auxiliary calculi Ldm^m_nL. In the single-agent case, we show that the refined calculi Ldm^m_nL derive theorems within a restricted class of (forestlike) sequents, allowing us to provide proof-search algorithms that decide single-agent STIT logics. We prove that the proof-search algorithms are correct and terminate