Demonstration of multi-cavity optoelectronic oscillators based on multicore fibers

We report the first experimental demonstration of multi-cavity optoelectronic oscillators where the different cavities are hosted in a single multicore fiber. Different configurations are implemented on the same 20-m 7-core fiber link, exploiting both unbalanced dual-cavity operation (loop lengths are a multiple of a reference value) and multi-cavity Vernier operation (loop lengths are slightly different).Comment: 4 page

Space-division multiplexing for fiber-wireless communications

We envision the application of optical Space-division Multiplexing (SDM) to the next generation fiber-wireless communications as a firm candidate to increase the end user capacity and provide adaptive radiofrequency-photonic interfaces. This approach relies on the concept of fiber-distributed signal processing, where the SDM fiber provides not only radio access distribution but also broadband microwave photonics signal processing. In particular, we present two different SDM fiber technologies: dispersion-engineered heterogeneous multicore fiber links and multicavity devices built upon the selective inscription of gratings in homogeneous multicore fibers.Comment: 4 pages, 20th International Conference on Transparent Optical Networks (ICTON), Girona (Spain), 2017. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1810.1213

Part I - Landslide Inventory and Susceptibility and Hazard Zoning – Introduction

Landslide inventories and susceptibility and hazard maps are key tools for land use planning and management, civil protection plans, civil engineering works, and risk reduction programmes. Their importance helps understanding why approximately one sixth of all contributions to the Second World Landslide Forum were related to recent advances in these topics. This volume presents the state of the art on landslide inventory and susceptibility and hazard zoning. It contains experiences, methods and techniques applied in different physiographic, geological and climate settings of the world and for different types of landslides, from site-specific investigations to global scale analysis.JRC.H.7-Climate Risk Managemen

Update of the European Landslide Susceptibility Map (ELSUS Version 2)

We present an update of the initial version of the European Landslide Susceptibility Map (ELSUS Version 1) that was released in 2012 through the EU Joint Research Centre (JRC) European Soil Data Centre (ESDAC). The susceptibility evaluation methodology employed for the updated map ELSUS Version 2 presented in this paper is identical to the previous approach, and comprises the differentiation of the analyzed European area into seven climate-physiographical model zones, the use of a reduced set of spatial susceptibility predictors (shallow subsurface lithology, slope angle, and land cover), and model zone-specific heuristic spatial multicriteria evaluations (SMCE) for susceptibility mapping. The most important improvement for ELSUS version 2 is the replacement of the original “lithology” data set consisting of soil parent material information derived from the European Soil Database (ESDB) by new information derived from the digital version of the International Hydrogeological Map of Europe at scale 1:1.5 Million (IHME 1500). IHME lithology describes both consolidated and unconsolidated shallow geological materials over Europe and can be shown to have a higher significance for landslide susceptibility evaluation than the soil parent material derived from ESDB. Other improvements consist in the change of the mapping unit from 1 km to 200 m grid size and the incorporation of terrains not covered by ELSUS version 1 (e.g., Iceland, the Faroers, the Shetlands, and Cyprus). Additionally, the new ELSUS version 2 was calibrated and validated with an updated pan-European landslide inventory now containing more than 155,000 landslides (30% more than used for ELSUS version 1). The enhanced and updated landslide inventory and the higher quality of the “lithology” data enabled us to establish more consistent SMCE-schemes for the individual model zones. The enhancements of ELSUS Version 2 result in an overall increase of the predictive power of the map for about 10%, as indicated by ROC curve metrics obtained with the updated landslide inventory. However, the assessment still suffers from missing landslide information in many European terrains. It can be suspected that more distributed landslides information in specific model zones will further enhance the accuracy of ELSUS in the future.JRC.H.5-Land Resources Managemen

Autophagy-related proteins: in vitro studies of protein-lipid interactions modulating autophagosome elongation

225 p.La autofagia es un proceso catabólico implicado en el desarrollo de un amplio espectro de enfermedades humanas. Se caracteriza por la formación de una estructura de doble membrana denominada autofagosoma, la cual incorpora en su interior el material celular susceptible de ser degradado posteriormente por los lisosomas. Sin embargo, la manera en la que el autofagosoma crece y finalmente se cierra es todavía una pregunta sin resolver, y continúa siendo objeto de profundo estudio. Los resultados de esta tesis sirven para aclarar el papel de tres homólogos humanos diferentes de Atg8 en eventos de fusión que tienen lugar durante la elongación del autofagosoma. Las formas de LC3, GATE-16 y GABARAP conjugadas enzimáticamente a PE inducen fusión de liposomas y este proceso puede estar modulado por la geometría lipídica y por la curvatura de membrana, características que podrían estar presentes en el borde del fagóforo naciente y que se ajustan debidamente al modelo propuesto de fusión tipo tallo. Además Atg3, uno de los componentes de la reacción enzimática que induce las formas conjugadas a PE, interacciona específicamente con membranas aniónicas, parece modular la eficiencia de la lipidación y muestra actividad de agregación de vesículas, lo cual puede estar relacionado con los eventos de fusión catalizados por los arriba mencionados homólogos de Atg8 durante el crecimiento del autofagosoma. Finalmente, resultados preliminares pueden sugerir una posible implicación de la proteína transmembrana Atg9 en el transporte de lípidos que parece ocurrir durante la elongación del fagóforo.CSI

3D variability in ball toss and impact location for tennis serves in collegiate female players

Recent research has been focusing in the tennis serve to get deeper knowledge about its phases and the factors involved for better performance. This study analyses one aspect of the tennis serve that it was not being considered before, and not too much information was available to the public: The tennis ball toss. A player who can develop consistency and a high efficiency of serve percentage during a tennis match will increase their chances of success. The objective of the tennis serve is to place the ball in the opposite court within the opposite serve quadrant to where the opponent is located. The player who is able to produce a considerable amount of speed and spin using consistent ball contact has a greater chance to dominate the game from the start to win the point. Previous research has been concentrated in the comparison of first and second serve but, there is no correlation of the tennis ball toss and its variability with impact location of the tennis serve so, understanding the implications of the toss and its relationship with the tennis serve was very motivating. This study consists of a 3D analysis of the tennis ball toss and its implications with impact location and impact variability of the tennis serve. Several players were analyzed performing first serves in a tennis tournament and a 3D analysis of the tennis ball toss was made using different techniques to see how the toss will act in different dimensions. The findings in this study are important for the development of athletes and also, to break down old beliefs about the right employment of tennis serves techniques and its relationship with a better execution of the technique itself. This research finds facts about the behavior of the tennis ball during the tennis ball toss in a live tennis match. Although, no significant differences were found among dimensions in the tennis ball toss related with impact variability, there is a difference in the impact location in one of the dimensions analyzed in this study

Overcoming class II-linked non-responsiveness to hepatitis B vaccine

This work shows that class II-linked humoral lack of response to an antigen can be overcome by joint immunization with the antigen and a T-helper cell determinant (TDh) well recognized by class II molecules of a non-responder individual. Thus, SJL/J mice (H-2s), which are non-responders to the S region of hepatitis B virus surface antigen (HBsAg), were rendered responders by joint immunization with a recombinant surface antigen, only composed of the S region, and a short synthetic TDh peptide well recognized by the H-2s restriction. By contrast, when this peptide is not recognized as TDh, as in B10M mice (H-2f restricted and also non-responders to the S region), no humoral response could be induced against the S region. These results have important implications for therapy and vaccination against hepatitis B virus as well as in enhancing the immunogenicity of other antigens

Lessons Learnt from Fires in Buildings

Abstract not availableJRC.G - Institute for the Protection and the Security of the Citizen (Ispra

Blockade of the Interaction of Calcineurin with FOXO in Astrocytes Protects Against Amyloid-beta-Induced Neuronal Death

Astrocytes actively participate in neuro-inflammatory processes associated to Alzheimer's disease (AD), and other brain pathologies. We recently showed that an astrocyte-specific intracellular signaling pathway involving an interaction of the phosphatase calcineurin with the transcription factor FOXO3 is a major driver in AD-associated pathological inflammation, suggesting a potential new druggable target for this devastating disease. We have now developed decoy molecules to interfere with calcineurin/FOXO3 interactions, and tested them in astrocytes and neuronal co-cultures exposed to amyloid-beta (A beta) toxicity. We observed that interference of calcineurin/FOXO3 interactions exerts a protective action against A beta-induced neuronal death and favors the production of a set of growth factors that we hypothesize form part of a cytoprotective pathway to resolve inflammation. Furthermore, interference of the A beta-induced interaction of calcineurin with FOXO3 by decoy compounds significantly decreased amyloid-beta protein precursor (A beta PP) synthesis, reduced the A beta PP amyloidogenic pathway, resulting in lower A beta levels, and blocked the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines TNF alpha and IL-6 in astrocytes. Collectively, these data indicate that interrupting pro-inflammatory calcineurin/FOXO3 interactions in astrocytes triggered by A beta accumulation in brain may constitute an effective new therapeutic approach in AD. Future studies with intranasal delivery, or brain barrier permeable decoy compounds, are warranted.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Identification of landslide hazard and risk ‘hotspots’ in Europe

Landslides are a serious problem for humans and infrastructure in many parts of Europe. Experts know to a certain degree which parts of the continent are most exposed to landslide hazard. Nevertheless, neither the geographical location of previous landslide events nor knowledge of locations with high landslide hazard necessarily point out the areas with highest landslide risk. In addition, landslides often occur unexpectedly and the decisions on where investments should be made to manage and mitigate future events are based on the need to demonstrate action and political will. The goal of this study was to undertake a uniform and objective analysis of landslide hazard and risk for Europe. Two independent models, an expert-based or heuristic and a statistical model (logistic regression), were developed to assess the landslide hazard. Both models are based on applying an appropriate combination of the parameters representing susceptibility factors (slope, lithology, soil moisture, vegetation cover and other- factors if available) and triggering factors (extreme precipitation and seismicity). The weights of different susceptibility and triggering factors are calibrated to the information available in landslide inventories and physical processes. The analysis is based on uniform gridded data for Europe with a pixel resolution of roughly 30 m 9 30 m. A validation of the two hazard models by organizations in Scotland, Italy, and Romania showed good agreement for shallow landslides and rockfalls, but the hazard models fail to cover areas with slow moving landslides. In general, the results from the two models agree well pointing out the same countries with the highest total and relative area exposed to landslides. Landslide risk was quantified by counting the number of exposed people and exposed kilometers of roads and railways in each country. This process was repeated for both models. The results show the highest relative exposure to landslides in small alpine countries such as Lichtenstein. In terms of total values on a national level, Italy scores highest in both the extent of exposed area and the number for exposed population. Again, results agree between the two models, but differences between the models are higher for the risk than for the hazard results. The analysis gives a good overview of the landslide hazard and risk hotspots in Europe and allows a simple ranking of areas where mitigation measures might be most effective.JRC.H.5-Land Resources Managemen