241 research outputs found

    Validating the effect of fuel moisture content by a multivalued operator in a simplified physical fire spread model

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    Fuel moisture content (FMC) plays a significant role in wildfire behavior and rate of spread (ROS). In addition, FMC is a highly dynamic factor and very vulnerable to climate variations. Understanding the effect of FMC on the behavior of fire spread models is crucial, and detailed analysis of specific aspects of complex models is a very effective way to improve them. The simplified physical fire spread model PhyFire considers the effect of FMC in a novel way, involving a multivalued maximal monotone operator. Several numerical experiments have been carried out to confirm that the behavior of the ROS simulated with PhyFire involving FMC is as expected in the reviewed literature: an exponential decrease in fire ROS compared to FMC, for different scenarios, considering different fuel types, terrain slopes and wind speeds. PhyFire performs very accurately, proving that the multivalued operator used is suitable and consistent

    Benign Bilateral Adenomyoepithelioma of the Mammary Gland in a Ring-tailed Lemur (Lemur catta)

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    Naturally occurring mammary tumours are uncommon in prosimians. A 20-year-old female ring-tailed lemur (Lemur catta) developed bilateral enlargement of the mammary glands. Surgical removal revealed that both masses were comprised of multiple nodules and cystic areas that entirely replaced the normal glands. Histologically, a benign neoplastic biphasic cellular proliferation, composed of luminal–epithelial and basal–myoepithelial components, was identified. Immunohistochemical analysis for expression of cytokeratin (CK) AE1/AE3, CK7, CK5 + 8, CK14, vimentin, p63 and 14-3-3σ highlighted the biphasic nature of the neoplasm. A low mitotic count, low Ki67 labelling index, expression of oestrogen receptor-α, lack of expression of human epidermal growth factor receptor and a 3-year disease-free period without recurrence supported the benign nature of the tumour. Macroscopically, histologically and immunohistochemically this neoplasm resembled benign adenomyoepithelioma of the breast in women. This is the first complete report of a naturally occurring mammary tumour in a ring-tailed lemur

    Magnetic behaviour of multisegmented FeCoCu/Cu electrodeposited nanowires

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    Understanding the magnetic behaviour of multisegmented nanowires (NWs) is a major key for the application of such structures in future devices. In this work, magnetic/non-magnetic arrays of FeCoCu/Cu multilayered NWs electrodeposited in nanoporous alumina templates are studied. Contrarily to most reports on multilayered NWs, the magnetic layer thickness was kept constant (30 nm) and only the non-magnetic layer thickness was changed (0 to 80 nm). This allowed us to tune the interwire and intrawire interactions between the magnetic layers in the NW array creating a three-dimensional (3D) magnetic system without the need to change the template characteristics. Magnetic hysteresis loops, measured with the applied field parallel and perpendicular to the NWs' long axis, showed the effect of the non-magnetic Cu layer on the overall magnetic properties of the NW arrays. In particular, introducing Cu layers along the magnetic NW axis creates domain wall nucleation sites that facilitate the magnetization reversal of the wires, as seen by the decrease in the parallel coercivity and the reduction of the perpendicular saturation field. By further increasing the Cu layer thickness, the interactions between the magnetic segments, both along the NW axis and of neighbouring NWs, decrease, thus rising again the parallel coercivity and the perpendicular saturation field. This work shows how one can easily tune the parallel and perpendicular magnetic properties of a 3D magnetic layer system by adjusting the non-magnetic layer thickness

    Estudio empírico sobre la influencia de recursos heurísticos en la resolución de problemas de probabilidad condicionada L0 y L2

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    Se ha constatado la dificultad de los estudiantes a la hora de resolver problemas de probabilidad condicionada (Cañadas et al., 2011). En general, la complejidad de estos problemas es debida a varios factores: el formato y el orden en el que se presentan los datos, el contexto en el que se plantea el problema, el lenguaje utilizado para expresar los datos condicionales o las herramientas utilizadas en el proceso de resolución. En nuestro estudio nos centraremos en el uso y la influencia de recursos heurísticos, como tablas de contingencia o diagramas de árbol, durante la resolución de un problema de probabilidad condicionada

    Microestructura del esmalte de los incisivos de roedores (Mammalia, Rodentia)

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    Fertilization capacity with rainbow trout DNA-damaged sperm and embryo developmental success

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    Mammalian spermatozoa undergo a strong selection process along the female tract to guarantee fertilization by good quality cells, but risks of fertilization with DNA-damaged spermatozoa have been reported. In contrast, most external fertilizers such as fish seem to have weaker selection procedures. This fact, together with their high prolificacy and external embryo development, indicates that fish could be useful for the study of the effects of sperm DNA damage on embryo development. We cryopreserved sperm from rainbow trout using egg yolk and low-density lipoprotein as additives to promote different rates of DNA damage. DNA fragmentation and oxidization were analyzed using comet assay with and without digestion with restriction enzymes, and fertilization trials were performed. Some embryo batches were treated with 3-aminobenzamide (3AB) to inhibit DNA repair by the poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase, which is an enzyme of the base excision repair pathway. Results showed that all the spermatozoa cryopreserved with egg yolk carried more than 10% fragmented DNA, maintaining fertilization rates of 61.1+/-2.3 but a high rate of abortions, especially during gastrulation, and only 14.5+/-4.4 hatching success. Furthermore, after 3AB treatment, hatching dropped to 3.2+/-2.2, showing that at least 10% DNA fragmentation was repaired. We conclude that trout sperm maintains its ability to fertilize in spite of having DNA damage, but that embryo survival is affected. Damage is partially repaired by the oocyte during the first cleavage. Important advantages of using rainbow trout for the study of processes related to DNA damage and repair during development have been reported. Reproduction (2010) 139 989-997Junta de Castilla y Leon (Spain) [LE007A06]; University of Leoninfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

    All-fiber tunable optical delay line

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    We present a tunable optical delay line based on the use of a single chirped fiber Bragg grating written into a standard single mode optical fiber. In the proposed scheme, the delay is induced through the Bragg grating differential group delay curve. This is achieved by launching orthogonally polarized optical pulses in both directions into the Bragg grating and by controlling its local birefringence. This bidirectional propagation allows to compensate the second-order dispersion. The setup is suitable to delay pulses with a spectral width just less than the grating reflection bandwidth, which is particularly useful in the context of forthcoming wavelength division multiplexing ultra-high bit rate lightwave systems. In this work, the performances of the setup are investigated using a pulsed laser delivering 6.3 ps Fourier transform limited pulses at 1548 nm. A maximum delay of 120 ps (about 20 times the pulse width) is reported experimentally

    Two isoforms of vasa maternal factor in Senegalese sole: Biotechnological applications

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    Primordial Germ Cells (PGCs) identification and manipulation present considerable potential for hatchery practice and surrogate broodstocks. To carry out the PGCs characterization a specific molecular marker is required. The vasa gene is a good candidate to identify PGCs and others germinal cells (Nagasawa et al., 2009). The aim of this study was the cloning of the Solea senegalensis vasa cDNA and its expression pattern during early development and adulthood

    Adipose-derived stem cells combined with Neuregulin-1 delivery systems for heart tissue engineering

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    Myocardial infarction (MI) is the leading cause of death worldwide and extensive research has therefore been performed to find a cure. Neuregulin-1 (NRG) is a growth factor involved in cardiac repair after MI. We previously described how biocompatible and biodegradable microparticles, which are able to release NRG in a sustained manner, represent a valuable approach to avoid problems related to the short half-life after systemic administration of proteins. The effectiveness of this strategy could be improved by combining NRG with several cytokines involved in cardiac regeneration. The present study investigates the potential feasibility of using NRG-releasing particle scaffold combined with adipose derived stem cells (ADSC) as a multiple growth factor delivery-based tissue engineering strategy for implantation in the infarcted myocardium. NRG-releasing particle scaffolds with a suitable size for intramyocardial implantation were prepared by TROMS. Next, ADSC were adhered to particle scaffolds and their potential for heart administration was assessed in a MI rat model. NRG was successfully encapsulated reaching encapsulation efficiencies of 92.58 ± 3.84 %. NRG maintained its biological activity after the microencapsulation process. ADSC cells adhered efficiently to particle scaffolds within a few hours. The ADSC-cytokine delivery system developed proved to be compatible with intramyocardial administration in terms of injectability through a 23-gauge needle and tissue response. Interestingly, ADSC-scaffolds were present in the peri-infarted tissue two weeks after implantation. This proof of concept study provides important evidence required for future effectiveness studies and for the translation of this approach

    ¿Influye la intensidad de los estímulos sexuales y el feminismo en las actitudes de los consumidores hacia las apelaciones sexuales y el juicio ético? Una perspectiva ecuatoriana

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    The objective of this piece of research was to analyze if the attitude toward feminist thought, in a Latin cultural context, influenced the attitude toward different advertisements that used sexual appeals to the body of women. This study was based on theoretical research conducted by Hojoon Choi, Kyunga Yoo, Tom Reichert and Michael LaTour (2016). There were 4 advertisements with various types of sexual appeals: complete nudity, semi-nudity, no nudity and hostile sexism. The results show that the average feminist attitude (M = 3.52, SD = 0.82) is from fair to good and there is a significant difference between men (M = 3.38, SD = 0.87) and women (M = 3.64, SD = 0.77). Women show a slightly more feminist attitude than men. Regarding attitudes to advertisements with different types of sexual content, it was evident that there was a significant difference in the means of ethical attitude towards them. The higher the level of nudity used in the advertisement, the more negative the ethical attitude was. In addition, the average ethical judgment on the ad with “hostile sexism” was significantly different from the ad with semi-nudity and complete nudity. Of the four ads, a significant difference could be found between the feminist attitude and the ethical attitude toward the ad that contained images of hostile sexism. The group with a high degree of feminism had a more negative ethical attitude toward the ad with hostile sexism (M = 3.81, SD = 1.69) compared to the low grade feminism group (M = 4.19, SD = 1.40).El objetivo de esta investigación fue analizar si la actitud hacia el pensamiento feminista, en un contexto cultural latino, influía en la actitud hacia diferentes anuncios publicitarios que utilizaban apelaciones sexuales hacia el cuerpo de la mujer. Este estudio tomó como base teórica las investigaciones realizadas por Hojoon Choi, Kyunga Yoo, Tom Reichert y Michael LaTour (2016). Se mostraron 4 avisos publicitarios con varios tipos de apelaciones sexuales: desnudez completa, semi-desnudez, nada de desnudez y sexismo hostil. Los resultados arrojados muestran que la media de la actitud feminista (M=3.52, SD=0.82) se encuentra de regular a buena y existe una diferencia significativa entre hombres (M=3.38, SD=0.87) y mujeres (M=3.64, SD=0.77). Las mujeres muestran levemente una actitud más feminista que la de los hombres. En cuanto a las actitudes ante los anuncios publicitarios con diferentes tipos de contenido sexual, se evidenció que existía una diferencia significativa de las medias sobre la actitud ética hacia los mismos. Mientras mayor grado de desnudez se utilizaba en el anuncio, la actitud ética era más negativa. Además, la media del juicio ético sobre el anuncio con “sexismo hostil” fue significativamente diferente al anuncio con semi-desnudez y desnudez completa. De los cuatro anuncios se pudo encontrar una diferencia significativa entre la actitud feminista y la actitud ética hacia el anuncio que contenía imágenes de sexismo hostil. El grupo con un alto grado de feminismo tenía una actitud ética más negativa hacia el anuncio con sexismo hostil (M=3.81, SD=1.69) comparado con el grupo de bajo grado de feminismo (M=4.19, SD=1.40)
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