816 research outputs found
Operator method in solving non-linear equations of the Hartree-Fock type
The operator method is used to construct the solutions of the problem of the
polaron in the strong coupling limit and of the helium atom on the basis of the
Hartree-Fock equation. is obtained for the polaron
ground-state energy. Energies for 2s- and 3s-states are also calculated. The
other excited states are briefly discussed.Comment: 7 page
High Harmonic Spectroscopy of the Cooper Minimum in Molecules
The Cooper minimum (CM) has been studied using high harmonic generation solely in atoms. Here, we present detailed experimental and theoretical studies on the CM in molecules probed by high harmonic generation using a range of near-infrared light pulses from λ = 1.3 to 1.8 µm. We demonstrate the CM to occur in CS₂ and CCl₄ at ~42 and ~40 eV, respectively, by comparing the high harmonic spectra with the known partial photoionization cross sections of different molecular orbitals, confirmed by theoretical calculations of harmonic spectra. We use CM to probe electron localization in Cl-containing molecules (CCl₄, CH₂Cl₂, and trans-C₂H₂Cl₂) and show that the position of the minimum is influenced by the molecular environment
Intensity dependence of multiple orbital contributions and shape resonance in high-order harmonic generation of aligned N molecules}
We report measurements and theoretical simulations of high-order harmonic
generation (HHG) in aligned N molecules using a 1200-nm intense laser field
when the generating pulse is perpendicular to the aligning one. With increasing
laser intensity, the minimum in the HHG spectra first shifts its position and
then disappears. Theoretical simulations including the macroscopic propagation
effects in the medium reproduce these observations and the disappearance of the
minimum is attributed to the additional contribution of HHG from inner
orbitals. We also predict that the well-known shape resonance in the
photoionization spectra of N should exist in the HHG spectra. It is most
clearly seen when the generating laser is parallel to the aligning one, and
disappears gradually as the angle between the two lasers increases. No clear
evidence of this shape resonance has been reported so far when using lasers
with different wavelengths. Further experimentation is needed to draw
conclusions.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figure
Nothophytophthora gen. nov., a new sister genus of Phytophthora from natural and semi-natural ecosystem
During various surveys of Phytophthora diversity in Europe, Chile and Vietnam slow growing oomycete
isolates were obtained from rhizosphere soil samples and small streams in natural and planted forest stands.
Phylogenetic analyses of sequences from the nuclear ITS, LSU, β-tubulin and HSP90 loci and the mitochondrial
cox1 and NADH1 genes revealed they belong to six new species of a new genus, officially described here as
Nothophytophthora gen. nov., which clustered as sister group to Phytophthora. Nothophytophthora species share
numerous morphological characters with Phytophthora: persistent (all Nothophytophthora spp.) and caducous
(N. caduca, N. chlamydospora, N. valdiviana, N. vietnamensis) sporangia with variable shapes, internal differentiation
of zoospores and internal, nested and extended (N. caduca, N. chlamydospora) and external (all Nothophytophthora
spp.) sporangial proliferation; smooth-walled oogonia with amphigynous (N. amphigynosa) and paragynous
(N. amphigynosa, N. intricata, N. vietnamensis) attachment of the antheridia; chlamydospores (N. chlamydospora)
and hyphal swellings. Main differing features of the new genus are the presence of a conspicuous, opaque plug
inside the sporangiophore close to the base of most mature sporangia in all known Nothophytophthora species and
intraspecific co-occurrence of caducity and non-papillate sporangia with internal nested and extended proliferation
in several Nothophytophthora species. Comparisons of morphological structures of both genera allow hypotheses
about the morphology and ecology of their common ancestor which are discussed. Production of caducous sporangia
by N. caduca, N. chlamydospora and N. valdiviana from Valdivian rainforests and N. vietnamensis from a
mountain forest in Vietnam suggests a partially aerial lifestyle as adaptation to these humid habitats. Presence of
tree dieback in all forests from which Nothophytophthora spp. were recovered and partial sporangial caducity of
several Nothophytophthora species indicate a pathogenic rather than a saprophytic lifestyle. Isolation tests from
symptomatic plant tissues in these forests and pathogenicity tests are urgently required to clarify the lifestyle of the
six Nothophytophthora species.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
Sources of Multidrug Resistance in Patients With Previous Isoniazid-Resistant Tuberculosis Identified Using Whole Genome Sequencing: A Longitudinal Cohort Study
Background
Meta-analysis of patients with isoniazid-resistant tuberculosis given standard first-line anti-tuberculosis treatment indicated an increased risk of multi-drug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) emerging (8%), compared to drug-sensitive tuberculosis (0.3%). Here we use whole genome sequencing (WGS) to investigate whether treatment of patients with pre-existing isoniazid resistant disease with first-line anti-tuberculosis therapy risks selecting for rifampicin resistance, and hence MDR-TB.
Methods
Patients with isoniazid-resistant pulmonary TB were recruited and followed up for 24 months. Drug-susceptibility testing was performed by Microscopic observation drug-susceptibility assay (MODS), Mycobacterial Growth Indicator Tube (MGIT) and by WGS on isolates at first presentation and in the case of re-presentation. Where MDR-TB was diagnosed, WGS was used to determine the genomic relatedness between initial and subsequent isolates. De novo emergence of MDR-TB was assumed where the genomic distance was five or fewer single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) whereas reinfection with a different MDR-TB strain was assumed where the distance was 10 or more SNPs.
Results
239 patients with isoniazid-resistant pulmonary tuberculosis were recruited. Fourteen (14/239, 5.9%) patients were diagnosed with a second episode of tuberculosis that was multi-drug resistant. Six (6/239, 2.5%) were identified as having evolved MDR-TB de novo and six as having been re-infected with a different strain. In two cases the genomic distance was between 5-10 SNPs and therefore indeterminate.
Conclusions
In isoniazid-resistant TB, de novo emergence and reinfection of MDR-TB strains equally contributed to MDR development. Early diagnosis and optimal treatment of isoniazid resistant TB are urgently needed to avert the de novo emergence of MDR-TB during treatment
A inovação aberta no processo de internacionalização de empresas: estudo de caso da Brasil Foods
TCC (graduação) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina. Centro Sócio-Econômico. Relações Internacionais.A presente monografia tem como objetivo o estudo do papel da inovação aberta no processo de internacionalização de empresas, a partir da revisão teórica dos conceitos na literatura e de um estudo de caso real de uma empresa brasileira de grande porte: a Brasil Foods. A presente pesquisa possui caráter de pesquisa exploratória. Para desenvolver o objetivo principal, o trabalho apresenta três objetivos específicos, que são: primeiro apresentar o conceito de inovação, seus graus de inserção e destacar a sua relevância no setor empresarial; segundo apresentar o conceito de inovação aberta e de inovação fechada e esclarecer a importância da difusão de informações; e, terceiro, apresentar os aspectos históricos da internacionalização de empresas, introduzindo duas teorias do processo: Modelo de Uppsala e Perspectiva de Networks. Assim, pode-se exibir, portanto, um modelo conceitual às relações entre as atividades de inovação aberta e a internacionalização de empresas em redes, levandose em consideração que a gestão de inovação nas empresas, atualmente, transcende a visão de inovação tecnológica, e, as redes internacionais ganham cada vez mais relevância como vantagem competitiva nas empresas ao atuar em mercados exteriores. Como resultado, concluiu-se que as estratégias de internacionalização de empresas em redes e as estratégias de inovação aberta, quando empregadas juntas, aumentam a velocidade de aprendizagem organizacional da Brasil Foods, acelerando os processos de internacionalização, confirmando que a inovação aberta estimula e intensifica a internacionalização de empresas que trabalham em redes
Early uptake of HIV counseling and testing among pregnant women at different levels of health facilities - experiences from a community-based study in Northern Vietnam
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>HIV counselling and testing for pregnant women is a key factor for successful prevention of mother to child transmission of HIV. Women's access to testing can be improved by scaling up the distribution of this service at all levels of health facilities. However, this strategy will only be effective if pregnant women are tested early and provided enough counselling.</p> <p>Objective</p> <p>To assess early uptake of HIV testing and the provision of HIV counselling among pregnant women who attend antenatal care at primary and higher level health facilities.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A community based study was conducted among 1108 nursing mothers. Data was collected during interviews using a structured questionnaire focused on socio-economic background, reproductive history, experience with antenatal HIV counselling and testing as well as types of health facility providing the services.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In all 91.0% of the women interviewed had attended antenatal care and 90.3% had been tested for HIV during their most recent pregnancy. Women who had their first antenatal checkup at primary health facilities were significantly more likely to be tested before 34 weeks of gestation (OR = 43.2, CI: 18.9-98.1). The reported HIV counselling provision was also higher at primary health facilities, where women in comparison with women attending higher level health facilities were nearly three or and four times more likely to receive pre-test (OR = 2.7; CI:2.1-3.5) and post-test counseling (OR = 4.0; CI: 2.3-6.8).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The results suggest that antenatal HIV counseling and testing can be scaled up to primary heath facilities and that such scaling up may enhance early uptake of testing and provision of counseling.</p
Host Transcription Profile in Nasal Epithelium and Whole Blood of Hospitalized Children Under 2 Years of Age With Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infection.
BACKGROUND: Most insights into the cascade of immune events after acute respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection have been obtained from animal experiments or in vitro models. METHODS: In this study, we investigated host gene expression profiles in nasopharyngeal (NP) swabs and whole blood samples during natural RSV and rhinovirus (hRV) infection (acute versus early recovery phase) in 83 hospitalized patients <2 years old with lower respiratory tract infections. RESULTS: Respiratory syncytial virus infection induced strong and persistent innate immune responses including interferon signaling and pathways related to chemokine/cytokine signaling in both compartments. Interferon-α/β, NOTCH1 signaling pathways and potential biomarkers HIST1H4E, IL7R, ISG15 in NP samples, or BCL6, HIST2H2AC, CCNA1 in blood are leading pathways and hub genes that were associated with both RSV load and severity. The observed RSV-induced gene expression patterns did not differ significantly in NP swab and blood specimens. In contrast, hRV infection did not as strongly induce expression of innate immunity pathways, and significant differences were observed between NP swab and blood specimens. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that RSV induced strong and persistent innate immune responses and that RSV severity may be related to development of T follicular helper cells and antiviral inflammatory sequelae derived from high activation of BCL6
Comparing apples and oranges: assessment of the relative video quality in the presence of different types of distortions
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Video quality assessment is essential for the performance analysis of visual communication applications. Objective metrics can be used for estimating the relative quality differences, but they typically give reliable results only if the compared videos contain similar types of quality distortion. However, video compression typically produces different kinds of visual artifacts than transmission errors. In this article, we focus on a novel subjective quality assessment method that is suitable for comparing different types of quality distortions. The proposed method has been used to evaluate how well different objective quality metrics estimate the relative subjective quality levels for content with different types of quality distortions. Our conclusion is that none of the studied objective metrics works reliably for assessing the co-impact of compression artifacts and transmission errors on the subjective quality. Nevertheless, we have observed that the objective metrics' tendency to either over- or underestimate the perceived impact of transmission errors has a high correlation with the spatial and temporal activity levels of the content. Therefore, our results can be useful for improving the performance of objective metrics in the presence of both source and channel distortions.</p
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