Carbon Emissions Scenarios in Europe Based on an Endogenous Growth Model

Carbon dioxide emissions are a major force driving climate change. We construct scenarios of CO2 emissions from fossil energy until 2100 in Europe. Major innovations are first that economic growth is based on an endogenous economic growth model and second that we calibrate our model to historical data on population and GDP since 1850. We provide statistically valid confidence intervals of economic growth to indicate the accuracy of our forecasts and we show that aggregate forecasts vary with their spatial resolution. We find stronger income divergence between Western- and Eastern European countries than is projected in the Middle of the Road' scenario of the so-called Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSP2), a framework which was adopted together with the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC AR5)

Maternal Psychiatric Disease and Epigenetic Evidence Suggest a Common Biology for Poor Fetal Growth

We sought to identify and characterize predictors of poor fetal growth among variables extracted from perinatal medical records to gain insight into potential etiologic mechanisms. In this process we reevaluated a previously observed association between poor fetal growth and maternal psychiatric disease. We evaluated 449 deliveries of \u3e36 weeks gestation that occurred between 9/2008 and 9/2010 at the Women and Infants Hospital in Providence Rhode Island. This study group was oversampled for Small-for-Gestational-Age (SGA) infants and excluded Large-for-Gestational-Age (LGA) infants. We assessed the associations between recorded clinical variables and impaired fetal growth: SGA or Intrauterine Growth Restriction (IUGR) diagnosis. After validating the previously observed association between maternal psychiatric disease and impaired fetal growth we addressed weaknesses in the prior studies by explicitly considering antidepressant use and the timing of symptoms with respect to pregnancy. We then evaluated DNA methylation levels at 27 candidate loci in placenta from a subset of these deliveries (n = 197) to examine if epigenetic variation could provide insight into the mechanisms that cause this co-morbidity

Low energy n-\nuc{3}{H} scattering : a novel testground for nuclear interaction

The low energy n-\nuc{3}{H} elastic cross sections near the resonance peak are calculated by solving the 4-nucleon problem with realistic NN interactions. Three different methods -- Alt, Grassberger and Shandas (AGS), Hyperspherical Harmonics and Faddeev-Yakubovsky -- have been used and their respective results are compared. We conclude on a failure of the existing NN forces to reproduce the n-\nuc{3}{H} total cross section.Comment: To be published in Phys. Rev.

Recognition of Membrane Sterols by Polyene Antifungals Amphotericin B and Natamycin, A 13C MAS NMR Study

The molecular action of polyene macrolides with antifungal activity, amphotericin B and natamycin, involves recognition of sterols in membranes. Physicochemical and functional studies have contributed details to understanding the interactions between amphotericin B and ergosterol and, to a lesser extent, with cholesterol. Fewer molecular details are available on interactions between natamycin with sterols. We use solid state 13C MAS NMR to characterize the impact of amphotericin B and natamycin on mixed lipid membranes of DOPC/cholesterol or DOPC/ergosterol. In cholesterol-containing membranes, amphotericin B addition resulted in marked increase in both DOPC and cholesterol 13C MAS NMR linewidth, reflecting membrane insertion and cooperative perturbation of the bilayer. By contrast, natamycin affects little either DOPC or cholesterol linewidth but attenuates cholesterol resonance intensity preferentially for sterol core with lesser impact on the chain. Ergosterol resonances, attenuated by amphotericin B, reveal specific interactions in the sterol core and chain base. Natamycin addition selectively augmented ergosterol resonances from sterol core ring one and, at the same time, from the end of the chain. This puts forward an interaction model similar to the head-to-tail model for amphotericin B/ergosterol pairing but with docking on opposite sterol faces. Low toxicity of natamycin is attributed to selective, non-cooperative sterol engagement compared to cooperative membrane perturbation by amphotericin B

Survivin as potential mediator to support autoreactive cell survival in myasthenia gravis: A human and animal model study

The mechanisms that underlie the development and maintenance of autoimmunity in myasthenia gravis are poorly understood. In this investigation, we evaluate the role of survivin, a member of the inhibitor of apoptosis protein family, in humans and in two animal models. We identified survivin expression in cells with B lymphocyte and plasma cells markers, and in the thymuses of patients with myasthenia gravis. A portion of survivin-expressing cells specifically bound a peptide derived from the alpha subunit of acetylcholine receptor indicating that they recognize the peptide. Thymuses of patients with myasthenia gravis had large numbers of survivin-positive cells with fewer cells in the thymuses of corticosteroid-treated patients. Application of a survivin vaccination strategy in mouse and rat models of myasthenia gravis demonstrated improved motor assessment, a reduction in acetylcholine receptor specific autoantibodies, and a retention of acetylcholine receptor at the neuromuscular junction, associated with marked reduction of survivin-expressing circulating CD20+ cells. These data strongly suggest that survivin expression in cells with lymphocyte and plasma cell markers occurs in patients with myasthenia gravis and in two animal models of myasthenia gravis. Survivin expression may be part of a mechanism that inhibits the apoptosis of autoreactive B cells in myasthenia gravis and other autoimmune disorders

Stability of radiation-pressure dominated disks. I. The dispersion relation for a delayed heating alpha-viscosity prescription

We derive and investigate the dispersion relation for accretion disks with retarded or advanced heating. We follow the alpha-prescription but allow for a time offset (\tau) between heating and pressure perturbations, as well as for a diminished response of heating to pressure variations. We study in detail solutions of the dispersion relation for disks with radiation-pressure fraction 1 - \beta . For \tau <0 (delayed heating) the number and sign of real solutions for the growth rate depend on the values of the time lag and the ratio of heating response to pressure perturbations, \xi . If the delay is larger than a critical value (e.g., if \Omega \tau <-125 for \alpha =0.1, \beta =0 and \xi =1) two real solutions exist, which are both negative. These results imply that retarded heating may stabilize radiation-pressure dominated accretion disks.Comment: 11 pages, 10 figures, to be submitted to A&

Assessing Doha's Street Network from the Perspective of 'Complete Streets' Concept

Streets are considered dynamic spaces in cities, and their design should be safe, comfortable and efficient for all users. Well-functioning streets can create a healthy lifestyle for a city and its users. Many cities are suffering from transportation issues because of their poorly designed street networks that do not integrate the different modes of transportation, or establish safe environments in which pedestrian and cyclists are treated as kings. In this manner, Doha as a city is experiencing the same kind of problem, creating corridors that do not take into consideration different travel modes, which causes severe congestion, delay and shortage in street capacity and, most importantly, users’ dissatisfaction. Therefore, there is a need to investigate and explore some methods that aim to improve cities’ street networks. “Complete Streets” is a roadway design concept initiated with the intention of integrating numerous modes of transportation and their variety of users. Complete Streets are also envisioned to provide traffic, safety and public health benefits, and integrate a healthy lifestyle into built environments worldwide. The newly-emerging concept can be adapted in contexts that fail to combine the different street elements that a street should have. Considering the low quality of the current street network, this thesis aims to evaluate the current streets in Doha city based on the degree of users’ satisfaction, and provide approaches to enhance them from the perspective of the ‘Complete Streets’ concept. The study analyzes two international case studies that have successfully implemented the concept and improved their current street network and enhanced users’ built environment. The analysis will help in extracting criteria that are used to assess the current performance of the street network and recommending ways to improve them. The methodological approach of this research will focus on the selection of two neighborhoods in Doha based on their contextual location and types of land use: a downtown area or urban center exemplified in Fereej bin Mahmoud, and a suburban area or residential district of Al Waab. Three nominated streets of the existing network within the two areas will be selected based on an evaluation matrix, and assessed according to the users’ perspectives and future preferences and aspirations. This approach is supported by two major data collection tools: a visual questionnaire survey and semi-structured interviews with local authorities. A total of 100 questionnaires were collected for the two selected areas from different types of users. Results showed that users are completely unsatisfied with the current conditions of the selected streets in the two areas, which lack the major components of Complete Street variables: pedestrian, bicycle, green and transit improvements, which has resulted in the absence of safety. The produced results along with the evaluation criteria have helped in improving the current streets’ designs and have created a new enhanced cross-section that meets the concept of Complete Streets

Multi-objective improvement of software using co-evolution and smart seeding

Optimising non-functional properties of software is an important part of the implementation process. One such property is execution time, and compilers target a reduction in execution time using a variety of optimisation techniques. Compiler optimisation is not always able to produce semantically equivalent alternatives that improve execution times, even if such alternatives are known to exist. Often, this is due to the local nature of such optimisations. In this paper we present a novel framework for optimising existing software using a hybrid of evolutionary optimisation techniques. Given as input the implementation of a program or function, we use Genetic Programming to evolve a new semantically equivalent version, optimised to reduce execution time subject to a given probability distribution of inputs. We employ a co-evolved population of test cases to encourage the preservation of the program’s semantics, and exploit the original program through seeding of the population in order to focus the search. We carry out experiments to identify the important factors in maximising efficiency gains. Although in this work we have optimised execution time, other non-functional criteria could be optimised in a similar manner