A Case for an Atmosphere on Super-Earth 55 Cancri e

One of the primary questions when characterizing Earth-sized and super-Earth-sized exoplanets is whether they have a substantial atmosphere like Earth and Venus or a bare-rock surface like Mercury. Phase curves of the planets in thermal emission provide clues to this question, because a substantial atmosphere would transport heat more efficiently than a bare-rock surface. Analyzing phase curve photometric data around secondary eclipse has previously been used to study energy transport in the atmospheres of hot Jupiters. Here we use phase curve, Spitzer time-series photometry to study the thermal emission properties of the super-Earth exoplanet 55 Cancri e. We utilize a semi-analytical framework to fit a physical model to the infrared photometric data at 4.5 micron. The model uses parameters of planetary properties including Bond albedo, heat redistribution efficiency (i.e., ratio between radiative timescale and advective timescale of the atmosphere), and atmospheric greenhouse factor. The phase curve of 55 Cancri e is dominated by thermal emission with an eastward-shifted hot spot. We determine the heat redistribution efficiency to be ~1.47, which implies that the advective timescale is on the same order as the radiative timescale. This requirement cannot be met by the bare-rock planet scenario because heat transport by currents of molten lava would be too slow. The phase curve thus favors the scenario with a substantial atmosphere. Our constraints on the heat redistribution efficiency translate to an atmospheric pressure of ~1.4 bar. The Spitzer 4.5-micron band is thus a window into the deep atmosphere of the planet 55 Cancri e.Comment: Accepted for publication on A

Classification of local energy trading negotiation profiles using artificial neural networks

Electricity markets are evolving into a local trading setting, which makes it for unexperienced players to achieve good agreements and obtain profits. One of the solutions to deal with this issue is to provide players with decision support solutions capable of identifying opponents' negotiation profiles, so that negotiation strategies can be adapted to those profiles in order to reach the best possible results from negotiations. This paper presents an approach that classifies opponents' proposals during a negotiation, to determine which is the typical negotiation profile in which the opponent most relates. The classification process is performed using an artificial neural network approach, and it is able to adapt at each new proposal during the negotiation process, by re-classifying the opponents' negotiation profile according to the most recent actions. In this way, effective decision support is provided to market players, enabling them to adapt the negotiation strategy throughout the negotiations.This work has received funding from National Funds through FCT (Fundaçao da Ciencia e Tecnologia) under the project SPET – 29165, call SAICT 2017info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Clustering-based negotiation profiles definition for local energy transactions

Electricity markets are complex and dynamic environments, mostly due to the large scale integration of renewable energy sources in the system. Negotiation in these markets is a significant challenge, especially when considering negotiations at the local level (e.g., between buildings and distributed energy resources). It is essential for a negotiator to be able to identify the negotiation profile of the players with whom he is negotiating. If a negotiator knows these profiles, it is possible to adapt the negotiation strategy and get better results in a negotiation. In order to identify and define such negotiation profiles, a clustering process is proposed in this paper. The clustering process is performed using the kml-k-means algorithm, in which several negotiation approaches are evaluated in order to identify and define players' negotiation profiles. A case study is presented, using as input data, information from proposals made during a set of negotiations. Results show that the proposed approach is able to identify players' negotiation profiles used in bilateral negotiations in electricity markets.This work has been developed under the CONTEST project - SAICTPOL/23575/2016 and has received funding from UID/EEA/00760/2013, funded by FEDER Funds through COMPETE program and by National Funds through FCT.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Exploring insights into the bioeconomy in strategic groups

The concept of Bioeconomy is associated with sustainable development changes both in production and consumption systems. For this reason, this research was carried out with the objective to describe the scientific production related to the different strategic groups’ perceptions about Bioeconomy and to group the existing literature into thematic clusters. Initially, in this bibliometric study, 67 articles were selected from the Scopus database based on the words “Bioeconomy” and “Perceptions”. Later, the VOSviewer software, version 1.6.18, was used to perform the bibliometric analysis. The results revealed the existence of four clusters. The first cluster included articles about Bioeconomy on the perspective of the timber strategic sector and of the different actors in the field of forestry action closest to the Bioeconomy field. The second cluster included articles related to the perception about Bioeconomy by Civil Society, in general, and higher education students, in particular, as well as their opinions on the importance of the forestry sector for the Bioeconomy. The third cluster comprised the articles that consider the Bioeconomy to be the innovative way to go to ensure the sustainability of the planet, therefore highlighting the importance of knowing the perceptions and raising awareness of all strategic groups to ensure the successful transition to the Bioeconomy. Finally, the fourth cluster included articles related to the consumer attitudes and behaviours regarding the acceptance of new biofood products resulting from the Circular Economy.The authors are grateful to the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT, Portugal) for financial support through national funds FCT/MCTES (PIDDAC) to CIMO (UIDB/00690/2020 and UIDP/00690/2020) and SusTEC (LA/P/0007/2020).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Utility of CYP2D6 copy number variants as prognostic biomarker in localized anal squamous cell carcinoma

CYP2D6; Anal squamous cell carcinoma; Cell cycleCYP2D6; Carcinoma de células escamosas anales; Ciclo celularCYP2D6; Carcinoma anal de cèl·lules escamoses; Cicle cel·lularBackground: Anal squamous cell carcinoma (ASCC) is an infrequent tumor whose treatment has not changed since the 1970s. The aim of this study is the identification of biomarkers allowing personalized treatments and improvement of therapeutic outcomes. Methods: Forty-six paraffin tumor samples from ASCC patients were analyzed by whole-exome sequencing. Copy number variants (CNVs) were identified and their relation to disease-free survival (DFS) was studied and validated in an independent retrospective cohort of 101 ASCC patients from the Multidisciplinary Spanish Digestive Cancer Group (GEMCAD). GEMCAD cohort proteomics allowed assessing the biological features of these tumors. Results: On the discovery cohort, the median age was 61 years old, 50% were males, stages I/II/III: 3 (7%)/16 (35%)/27 (58%), respectively, median DFS was 33 months, and overall survival was 45 months. Twenty-nine genes whose duplication was related to DFS were identified. The most representative was duplications of the CYP2D locus, including CYP2D6, CYP2D7P, and CYP2D8P genes. Patients with CYP2D6 CNV had worse DFS at 5 years than those with two CYP2D6 copies (21% vs. 84%; p < .0002, hazard ratio [HR], 5.8; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.7-24.9). In the GEMCAD validation cohort, patients with CYP2D6 CNV also had worse DFS at 5 years (56% vs. 87%; p = .02, HR = 3.6; 95% CI, 1.1-5.7). Mitochondria and mitochondrial cell-cycle proteins were overexpressed in patients with CYP2D6 CNV. Conclusions: Tumor CYP2D6 CNV identified patients with a significantly worse DFS at 5 years among localized ASCC patients treated with 5-fluorouracil, mitomycin C, and radiotherapy. Proteomics pointed out mitochondria and mitochondrial cell-cycle genes as possible therapeutic targets for these high-risk patients. Plain language summary: Anal squamous cell carcinoma is an infrequent tumor whose treatment has not been changed since the 1970s. However, disease-free survival in late staged tumors is between 40% and 70%. The presence of an alteration in the number of copies of CYP2D6 gene is a biomarker of worse disease-free survival. The analysis of the proteins in these high-risk patients pointed out mitochondria and mitochondrial cell-cycle genes as possible therapeutic targets. Therefore, the determination of the number of copies of CYP2D6 allows the identification of anal squamous carcinoma patients with a high-risk of relapse that could be redirected to a clinical trial. Additionally, this study may be useful to suggest new treatment strategies to increase current therapy efficacy

Optimization of seasonality and mother plant nutrition for vegetative propagation of Pinus pinaster Ait

Due to the high economic importance of Pinus pinaster Ait., there is considerable interest in developing, improving and extending the use of its families for mass clonal propagation and in breeding programmes. In the current study, we evaluated shoot growth, rooting ability and mini-cuttings production of P. pinaster in response to nitrogen fertilization and seasons. We compared eight half-sib families of P. pinaster from Asturias and Galicia (Northern Iberian Peninsula), searching for useful parameters and growing conditions to be included in a mass propagation program for clonal family forestry. We fertilized P. pinaster seedling mother plants kept in a greenhouse with three levels of nitrogen: high (HN), medium (MN) and low (LN) to evaluate rooting ability of mini-cuttings. In addition, we evaluated the maximal potential production of rooted mini-cuttings considering nine cycles of propagation over 1 year, also using three levels of nitrogen. The HN treatment significantly influenced the rooting process, with length, area and volume of roots all being positively affected. Spring was the most favourable season for mini-cuttings in the HN treatment. This study provides valuable new information to optimize the clonal propagation protocol for P. pinaster and shows that the mini-cuttings technique has great potential in mass scale cloning, providing high quality sprout production and well-formed new plants

Automated combination of bilateral energy contracts negotiation tactics

[EN] This paper addresses the theme automated bilateral negotiation of energy contracts. In this work, the automatic combination between different negotiation tactics is proposed. This combination is done dynamically throughout the negotiation process, as result from the online assessment that is performed after each proposal and counter-proposal. The proposed method is integrated in a decision support system for bilateral negotiations, called Decision Support for Energy Contracts Negotiations (DECON), which in turn is integrated with the Multi-Agent Simulator of Competitive Electricity Markets (MASCEM). This integration enables testing and validating the proposed methodology in a realistic market negotiation environment. A case study is presented, demonstrating the advantages of the proposed approach

Influencia del polvo de sílice en la mezcla asfáltica en frio de la cantera Pachacayo y San Lorenzo Huancayo-2022

Esta presente investigación tuvo como objetivo determinar la influencia del polvo de sílice en la mezcla asfáltica en frio de la cantera Pachacayo y San Lorenzo Huancayo-2022, haciendo el uso de la metodología de investigación de tipo aplicada, diseño experimental, nivel explicativo, la población está constituida por la cantera de Pachacayo del cual se extrajo la muestra de polvo de sílice, empleado en porcentajes 1.00%, 1.25%, 1.50%, 1.75% y 2.00%, con un muestreo no probabilístico, mediante el método Illinois se realizó 33 briquetas, 18 para la muestra patrón y 15 para la muestra modificada, indicando una dosificación en la muestra patrón 8.5% de emulsión asfáltica, 3.25% de agua, 31.1% de agregado grueso y 60.4% de agregado fino. Cuyos resultados dieron en estabilidad 6 kn, flujo 26.5 mm y en densidad 2.29 gr/cm3, en cuanto a la muestra modificada con la adición óptima de sílice se obtuvo en 1.70%, en estabilidad 5.47 kn, flujo 18.2 mm y densidad 2.20 gr/cm3. Concluyendo que, si existe influencia ya que, el diseño de la mezcla con sílice, disminuye en 8.83% en la estabilidad siendo mínima, aumentando la resistencia flexible al disminuir el flujo en 45.6% y mejorando el comportamiento de la mezcla asfáltica

Pulse wave velocity distribution in a cohort study: from arterial stiffness to early vascular aging

BACKGROUND: By contrast with other southern European people, north Portuguese population registers an especially high prevalence of hypertension and stroke incidence. We designed a cohort study to identify individuals presenting accelerated and premature arterial aging in the Portuguese population. METHOD: Pulse wave velocity (PWV) was measured in randomly sampled population dwellers aged 18-96 years from northern Portugal, and used as a marker of early vascular aging (EVA). Of the 3038 individuals enrolled, 2542 completed the evaluation. RESULTS: Mean PWV value for the entire population was 8.4?m/s (men: 8.6?m/s; women: 8.2?m/s; P??10?m/s). Logistic regression models indicated gender differences concerning the risk of developing large artery damage, with women having the same odds of PWV above 10?m/s 10 years later than men. CONCLUSION: The population PWV values were higher than expected in a low cardiovascular risk area (Portugal). High prevalence rates of EVA and noteworthy large artery damage in young ages were found.Funded by the Life and Health Research Institute, Minho University, Guimarães, Portugal

Differential inhibition of the TGF-b signaling pathway in HCC cells using the small molecule inhibitor LY2157299 and the D10 monoclonal antibody against TGF-β receptor Type II

We investigated blocking the TGF-b signaling pathway in HCC using two small molecule inhibitors (LY2157299, LY2109761) and a neutralizing humanized antibody (D10) against TGF-bRII. LY2157299 and LY2109761 inhibited HCC cell migration on Laminin-5, Fibronectin, Vitronectin, Fibrinogen and Collagen-I and de novo phosphorylation of pSMAD2. LY2157299 inhibited HCC migration and cell growth independently of the expression levels of TGF-bRII. In contrast to LY2157299, D10 showed a reduction in pSMAD2 only after a short exposure. This study supports the use of LY2157299 in clinical trials, and presents new insights into TGF-b receptor cycling in cancer cells