620 research outputs found
Interferon- γ receptor-1 gene promoter polymorphisms and susceptibility for brucellosis in Makkah region
Background: Genetic polymorphisms that affect the production levels of certain cytokines and/or their receptors may determine the risk, severity or protection in some infectious diseases like brucellosis.Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate the association of certain known Interferon-γ Receptor-1 (IFN-γ R1) gene promoter polymorphisms and the susceptibility to infection with Brucellosis in Saudi population.Methods: A cases-control association study was conducted in 69 individuals with human brucellosis and 94 healthy individuals. Genotyping of IFN-γ R1 – 56 C>T and IFN-γ R1 – 611 A>G polymorphism in both patients and healthy controls was done by PCR- restriction enzyme length polymorphisms (PCR-RFLP) and PCR- confronting two primer pairs (PCR-CTPP) methods and were assessed for potential associations with susceptibility for human brucellosis and their mode of penetrance.Results: Interestingly, we have designed a PCR-CTPP system to be used for genotyping of IFN-γ R1 – 611 A > G polymorphism. The PCR-CTPP is an accurate method for genotyping of SNPs. Moreover, it is time-saving, inexpensive and easy to perform.Conclusion: Both tested polymorphisms, IFN-γ R1 – 56 C>T and IFN-γ R1 -611 A>G polymorphism had no role in genetic susceptibility to human brucellosis in the study population. The PCR-CTPP can be used for genotyping IFN-γ R1 – 611 A > G polymorphism and other types of mutation.Keywords: Brucellosis; susceptibility; IFN-γ R1 gene promoter polymorphisms
Global Maps of Science based on the new Web-of-Science Categories
In August 2011, Thomson Reuters launched version 5 of the Science and Social
Science Citation Index in the Web of Science (WoS). Among other things, the 222
ISI Subject Categories (SCs) for these two databases in version 4 of WoS were
renamed and extended to 225 WoS Categories (WCs). A new set of 151 Subject
Categories (SCs) was added, but at a higher level of aggregation. Since we
previously used the ISI SCs as the baseline for a global map in Pajek (Rafols
et al., 2010) and brought this facility online (at
http://www.leydesdorff.net/overlaytoolkit), we recalibrated this map for the
new WC categories using the Journal Citation Reports 2010. In the new
installation, the base maps can also be made using VOSviewer (Van Eck &
Waltman, 2010).Comment: Scientometrics, in pres
Tensor Networks for Solving Realistic Time-independent Boltzmann Neutron Transport Equation
Tensor network techniques, known for their low-rank approximation ability
that breaks the curse of dimensionality, are emerging as a foundation of new
mathematical methods for ultra-fast numerical solutions of high-dimensional
Partial Differential Equations (PDEs). Here, we present a mixed Tensor Train
(TT)/Quantized Tensor Train (QTT) approach for the numerical solution of
time-independent Boltzmann Neutron Transport equations (BNTEs) in Cartesian
geometry. Discretizing a realistic three-dimensional (3D) BNTE by (i) diamond
differencing, (ii) multigroup-in-energy, and (iii) discrete ordinate
collocation leads to huge generalized eigenvalue problems that generally
require a matrix-free approach and large computer clusters. Starting from this
discretization, we construct a TT representation of the PDE fields and discrete
operators, followed by a QTT representation of the TT cores and solving the
tensorized generalized eigenvalue problem in a fixed-point scheme with tensor
network optimization techniques. We validate our approach by applying it to two
realistic examples of 3D neutron transport problems, currently solved by the
PARallel TIme-dependent SN (PARTISN) solver. We demonstrate that our TT/QTT
method, executed on a standard desktop computer, leads to a yottabyte
compression of the memory storage, and more than 7500 times speedup with a
discrepancy of less than 1e-5 when compared to the PARTISN solution.Comment: 38 pages, 9 figure
Alliance free and alliance cover sets
A \emph{defensive} (\emph{offensive}) -\emph{alliance} in
is a set such that every in (in the boundary of ) has
at least more neighbors in than it has in . A set
is \emph{defensive} (\emph{offensive}) -\emph{alliance free,}
if for all defensive (offensive) -alliance , ,
i.e., does not contain any defensive (offensive) -alliance as a subset.
A set is a \emph{defensive} (\emph{offensive})
-\emph{alliance cover}, if for all defensive (offensive) -alliance ,
, i.e., contains at least one vertex from each
defensive (offensive) -alliance of . In this paper we show several
mathematical properties of defensive (offensive) -alliance free sets and
defensive (offensive) -alliance cover sets, including tight bounds on the
cardinality of defensive (offensive) -alliance free (cover) sets
Mais-valia nutricional de macroalgas marinhas dos Açores. Determinação do teor de fibra bruta.
IV Congresso da Ordem dos Biólogos e II Congresso dos Biólogos dos Açores (Painel Biologia Marinha e Oceanografia). Ponta Delgada, Açores, 13-15 de Outubro de 2011
Interferon- \u3b3 receptor-1 gene promoter polymorphisms and susceptibility for brucellosis in Makkah region
Background: Genetic polymorphisms that affect the production levels of
certain cytokines and/or their receptors may determine the risk,
severity or protection in some infectious diseases like brucellosis.
Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate the association of
certain known Interferon-\u3b3 Receptor-1 (IFN-\u3b3 R1) gene
promoter polymorphisms and the susceptibility to infection with
Brucellosis in Saudi population. Methods: A cases-control association
study was conducted in 69 individuals with human brucellosis and 94
healthy individuals. Genotyping of IFN-\u3b3 R1 \u2013 56 C>T and
IFN-\u3b3 R1 \u2013 611 A>G polymorphism in both patients and
healthy controls was done by PCR- restriction enzyme length
polymorphisms (PCR-RFLP) and PCR- confronting two primer pairs
(PCR-CTPP) methods and were assessed for potential associations with
susceptibility for human brucellosis and their mode of penetrance.
Results: Interestingly, we have designed a PCR-CTPP system to be used
for genotyping of IFN-\u3b3 R1 \u2013 611 A > G polymorphism. The
PCR-CTPP is an accurate method for genotyping of SNPs. Moreover, it is
time-saving, inexpensive and easy to perform. Conclusion: Both tested
polymorphisms, IFN-\u3b3 R1 \u2013 56 C>T and IFN-\u3b3 R1 -611
A>G polymorphism had no role in genetic susceptibility to human
brucellosis in the study population. The PCR-CTPP can be used for
genotyping IFN-\u3b3 R1 \u2013 611 A > G polymorphism and other
types of mutation
Two-Dimensional Electronic Spectroscopy of Chlorophyll a: Solvent Dependent Spectral Evolution
The interaction of the monomeric chlorophyll Q-band electronic transition with solvents of differing physical-chemical properties is investigated through two-dimensional electronic spectroscopy (2DES). Chlorophyll constitutes the key chromophore molecule in light harvesting complexes. It is well-known that the surrounding protein in the light harvesting complex fine-tunes chlorophyll electronic transitions to optimize energy transfer. Therefore, an understanding of the influence of the environment on the monomeric chlorophyll electronic transitions is important. The Q-band 2DES is inhomogeneous at early times, particularly in hydrogen bonding polar solvents, but also in nonpolar solvents like cyclohexane. Interestingly this inhomogeneity persists for long times, even up to the nanosecond time scale in some solvents. The reshaping of the 2DES occurs over multiple time scales and was assigned mainly to spectral diffusion. At early times the reshaping is Gaussian-like, hinting at a strong solvent reorganization effect. The temporal evolution of the 2DES response was analyzed in terms of a Brownian oscillator model. The spectral densities underpinning the Brownian oscillator fitting were recovered for the different solvents. The absorption spectra and Stokes shift were also properly described by this model. The extent and nature of inhomogeneous broadening was a strong function of solvent, being larger in H-bonding and viscous media and smaller in nonpolar solvents. The fastest spectral reshaping components were assigned to solvent dynamics, modified by interactions with the solute
Shale distribution effects on the joint elastic–electrical properties in reservoir sandstone
We investigated the effect of shale distribution on the joint elastic wave and electrical properties of shaly reservoir sandstones using a dataset of laboratory measurements on 75 brine-saturated (35 g/L salinity) rock samples (63 samples from the literature, 12 newly measured samples). All the data were collected using the ultrasonic (700 kHz) pulse-echo measurement technique for P- and S-wave velocities (Vp, Vs), attenuations (Qp−1, Qs−1), and a four-electrode method for resistivity under elevated hydrostatic confining pressures between 10 and 50 MPa (pore fluid pressure 5 MPa). The distribution of volumetric shale content was classified by comparing the calculated dry P-wave modulus to the modified Upper Hashin–Shtrikman bound for quartz and air mixtures, assuming pore-filling shale. This scheme in particular allowed us to distinguish between pore-filling and load-bearing shale distributions according to idealized definitions, which provides new insight into the joint ultrasonic properties and resistivity behaviour for shaly sandstones. In resistivity–velocity space, the resistivity of load-bearing shale increases with increasing velocity which form a more distinct trend with steeper gradient compared to those for partial pore-filling shale and clean sandstones. Moreover, the pore-filling shale trend straddles the clean sandstone trend and meets the load-bearing shale trend between 100 and 150 apparent formation factors. In resistivity–attenuation space, the highest attenuations exist when the volumetric shale content is close to the frame porosity (for Qp−1 in particular), at the transition between pore-filling and load-bearing shales. The results will inform the development of improved rock physics models to aid reservoir characterization from geophysical remote sensing, particularly for joint seismic and controlled source electromagnetic surveys
Full characterization of vibrational coherence in a porphyrin chromophore by two-dimensional electronic spectroscopy
In this work we present experimental and calculated two-dimensional electronic spectra for a 5,15-bisalkynyl porphyrin chromophore. The lowest energy electronic Qy transition couples mainly to a single 380 cm–1 vibrational mode. The two-dimensional electronic spectra reveal diagonal and cross peaks which oscillate as a function of population time. We analyze both the amplitude and phase distribution of this main vibronic transition as a function of excitation and detection frequencies. Even though Feynman diagrams provide a good indication of where the amplitude of the oscillating components are located in the excitation-detection plane, other factors also affect this distribution. Specifically, the oscillation corresponding to each Feynman diagram is expected to have a phase that is a function of excitation and detection frequencies. Therefore, the overall phase of the experimentally observed oscillation will reflect this phase dependence. Another consequence is that the overall oscillation amplitude can show interference patterns resulting from overlapping contributions from neighboring Feynman diagrams. These observations are consistently reproduced through simulations based on third order perturbation theory coupled to a spectral density described by a Brownian oscillator model
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Where constructionism and critical realism converge: interrogating the domain of epistemological relativism
The paper interrogates the status, nature and significance of epistemological relativism as a key element of constructionism and critical realism. It finds that epistemological relativism is espoused by authorities in critical realism and marginalized or displaced in the field of management and organization studies, resulting in forms of analysis that are empirically, but not fully critically, realist. This evaluation prompts reflection on the question of whether, how and with what implications epistemological relativism might be recast at the heart of critical realist studies of management and organization
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