Production of Double Hypernuclei with antiprotons at PANDA

One of the goals of hypernuclear physics is to study the properties of baryon-baryon interaction including the strangeness contribution. Double hypernuclei can provide information about the $\Lambda\Lambda$ interaction in addition to the hyperon-hyperon and hyperon-nucleus one. A new technique for producing double hypernuclei using antiprotons is foreseen in the PANDA experiment at FAIR. Gamma ray spectroscopy is a way to measure the hyperon pair binding energy and the HPGe detectors can achieve the necessary resolution.Comment: ICHEP08 proceedings, Philadelphia 2008, 3 page

Resonant problem for a class of BVPs on the half-line

We provide an existence result for a Neumann nonlinear boundary value problem posed on the half-line. Our main tool is the multi-valued version of the Miranda Theorem

Molecular genetics and cell biology of ciliopathies

Defects in cilia structure and/or function are now known to be the cause of an important group of Mendelian developmental conditions called ciliopathies. Meckel-Gruber syndrome (MKS) and Joubert syndrome-related disorders (JBTS) are the focus of this work. The research comprised genetic screening of an established MKS/JSRD patient cohort for mutations in seven known genes, and different approaches to identify new causes for these disorders. The latter included whole exome sequencing (WES) of mutation-negative patients, and a high-throughput whole genome siRNA-based reverse genetics screen to identify novel ciliopathy genes and genes implicated in the process of ciliogenesis. Mutation screening in the University of Leeds MKS/JSRD patient cohort showed that about 50% patients (n=29/65) were mutation-negative for known genes and confirmed mutations in TMEM67 as a major cause of MKS/JSRD. WES gave a conclusive molecular diagnosis for n=4/7 families. WES allowed the identification of mutations in TMEM237 as a new cause of JSRD. In vitro assays showed that the TMEM237 protein is required for correct cilia formation and function. Loss of the protein in patient fibroblasts and after transcript knockdown caused defects in ciliogenesis and the Wnt signaling pathway. The whole genome reverse genetics screen identified new functional modules that were not previously linked to cilia (components of the spliceosome and proteasome) or had a poorly characterized ciliary function (several neuroactive GPCRs). Cross-comparison of screen hits with available WES data allowed the prioritisation and confirmation of mutations in PIBF1 and C21orf2 as new causes of JBTS and the skeletal ciliopathy Jeune syndrome, respectively. In summary, the multiple approaches presented in this work have allowed further insights into the structure and function of the primary cilia, as well as the disease mechanisms of human ciliopathies

Business process management as a determinant of change in the organisational culture of enterprises

Purpose: This study aims to determine the relationship between BPM and the organizational culture of enterprises. Design/Methodology/Approach: Business Process Management (BPM) is a series of interrelated activities that force companies to face specific contemporary challenges, i.e., competence, technology, and organizational, social, and environmental challenges. BPM assumptions bring opportunities to build new competitive advantages, create new areas of activity, and find new types of business benefits, but it also raises doubts and questions. The study assumes that mistakes made when implementing this concept result in enterprises' mismatched organizational culture. The empirical research was conducted in the SME sector. Findings: The research results indicate the importance of building an open organizational culture, as its creation will enable the creation of systems based on breakthrough relationships between an open organizational culture and BPM, which is necessary to create modern business model standards. Practical Implications: Signalling the role of culture in processes supporting BPM. Based on the conclusions drawn, it can be recommended that when implementing BPM assumptions, organizational culture should match the characteristics/values relating to this concept's assumptions, also requiring from employees and other involved parties an understanding of such culture. Otherwise, there is a risk that instead of BPM, the achieved result will be precisely the opposite of the intended one. Originality/Value: A theoretical and empirical study based on a literature review linking BPM with enterprises' organizational culture and the author's research. The paper attempts to define organizational culture as a form of support for implementing the BPM concept in enterprises.peer-reviewe

Improvisação e criação no contexto das aulas de formação musical : estudo de caso

A primeira parte deste documento consiste no trabalho elaborado no âmbito da unidade curricular de Prática de Ensino Supervisionada do Mestrado em Ensino de Música, componente de Formação Musical e Música de Conjunto. Esta atividade letiva, pormenorizada no presente trabalho, ocorreu entre o anos 2018 e 2019, na Academia de Música de Santa Cecília (AMSC), em Lisboa. O documento começa por apresentar a contextualização da escola e o seu modelo de ensino e, posteriormente, são descritas as práticas educativas e apresentada uma breve reflexão crítica ao trabalho desenvol-vido com as turmas em que decorreu o nosso estágio pedagógico. A segunda parte deste documento apresenta um estudo assente num Projeto de investigação concebido e desenvolvido no âmbito da unidade curricular projeto de Ensino Artístico e emergente da Prática. O estudo incide sobre um projeto de investi-gação-ação de caráter qualitativo que abrange a aquisição de dados, observação dire-ta e recolha de dados orais, assim como questionários aplicados aos participantes. Este Projeto de Investigação fez parte do Projeto Interdisciplinar Conta-me um segre-do dos alunos do 1º ciclo da AMSC. Começou-se por explorar as capacidades criativas dos alunos, através de atividades ligadas à improvisação rítmica e melódica. Segui-damente, desenvolveu-se um trabalho de composição de melodias para quadras ela-boradas no contexto da disciplina de Português, pelos alunos, em pequenos grupos. Por fim, realizou-se uma apresentação da disciplina de Coro, com a colaboração de todas as disciplinas envolvidas. A experiência realizada teve como principal objetivo observar e verificar se existe ligação entre a realização criativa e a motivação e, simul-taneamente, explorar novas estratégias que fomentem uma inter-relação entre a cria-ção e os conteúdos da aula de Formação Musical. No final, foram analisadas as respostas ao questionário realizado aos alunos, com o objetivo de compreender a importância da participação neste projeto, no que toca à motivação dos alunos no âmbito da disciplina de Formação Musical. A realização deste projeto poderá contribuir para a elaboração de projetos futuros que tenham como objetivo envolver os alunos no processo criativo e, deste modo, ser facilitador do seu desenvolvimento musical e humano.Abstract : The first part of this document consists of the work developed within the scope of the discipline of Formação Musical and Classe de Conjunto, framed in the curricular unit of Prática de Ensino Supervisionada (Supervised Teaching Practice). This teaching activity took place between 2018 and 2019, at Santa Cecília's Music Academy (Lisbon), detailed in the present work. This document begins by presenting the con-text of the school and its teaching model and later, describes the educational practices and presents a brief critical reflection of the work developed with the classes in-volved. The second part of this document presents a study based on a Research Project conceived and developed within the scope of the Artistic Teaching Project curricular unit. It focuses on a qualitative action-research project that covers data acquisition, direct observation and collection of verbal data, as well as questionnaires applied to its participants. This Research Project was part of the 1st cycle students of AMSC'S Interdisciplinary Project Conta-me um segredo. In this one, students' creative abilities were explored, through activities related to rhythmic and melodic improvisation. Then, a work of composing melodies for the blocks (developed in the context of the Portuguese language discipline) was developed, by the students, in small groups. To conclude this project, there was a presentation within the scope of the Choir disci-plines involved. The experience carried out, had the main objective of observing and analysing the level of connection between creative achievement and motivation, striv-ing to explore new strategies and to develop an interrelation between the personal element, which provides the creation, and contents of the discipline of Formação Mu-sical. At the end, the responses to the questionnaire made to the students were analysed in order to understand the importance of the students paricipation in this project, mainly concerning their motivation regarding the subject of Formação Musical. This project may contribute to the elaboration of future projects that aim to in-volve its students in their creative process and, therefore, help them in their musical and human development

Solutions to nonlocal Neumann boundary value problems

In this paper we study the nonlocal Neumann boundary value problem of the following form $$u'' =f(t,u,u'),\quad u'(0)=0, \quad u'(1)=\int_{0 }^{1}u'(s)dg(s),$$ where $f:[0,1]\times\mathbb R^n\times\mathbb R^n\to\mathbb R^n$ and g=\mbox{diag}(g_1,\ldots,g_n) with $g_i:[0,1]\to\mathbb R$, $i=1,\ldots,n$. The case when the function $f$ does not depend on $u'$ is also considered. The existence of solutions is obtained by means of the generalized Miranda theorem. The main results can be applied to many problems of this type depending on which conditions will be imposed upon the function $f$

MicroRNA expression patterns in canine mammary cancer show significant differences between metastatic and non-metastatic tumours

Background MicroRNAs may act as oncogenes or tumour suppressor genes, which make these small molecules potential diagnostic/prognostic factors and targets for anticancer therapies. Several common oncogenic microRNAs have been found for canine mammary cancer and human breast cancer. On account of this, large- scale profiling of microRNA expression in canine mammary cancer seems to be important for both dogs and humans. Methods Expression profiles of 317 microRNAs in 146 canine mammary tumours of different histological type, malignancy grade and clinical history (presence/absence of metastases) and in 25 control samples were evaluated. The profiling was performed using microarrays. Significance Analysis of Microarrays test was applied in the analysis of microarray data (both unsupervised and supervised data analyses were performed). Validation of the obtained results was performed using real- time qPCR. Subsequently, predicted targets for the microRNAs were searched for in miRBase. Results Results of the unsupervised analysis indicate that the primary factor separating the samples is the metastasis status. Predicted targets for microRNAs differentially expressed in the metastatic vs. non- metastatic group are mostly engaged in cell cycle regulation, cell differentiation and DNA-damage repair. On the other hand, the supervised analysis reveals clusters of differentially expressed microRNAs unique for the tumour type, malignancy grade and metastasis factor. Conclusions The most significant difference in microRNA expression was observed between the metastatic and non-metastatic group, which suggests a more important role of microRNAs in the metastasis process than in the malignant transformation. Moreover, the differentially expressed microRNAs constitute potential metastasis markers. However, validation of cfa-miR-144, cfa-miR-32 and cfa- miR-374a levels in blood samples did not follow changes observed in the non- metastatic and metastatic tumours

Meckel-Gruber syndrome: An update on diagnosis, clinical management, and research advances

© 2017 Hartill, Szymanska, Sharif, Wheway and Johnson. Meckel-Gruber syndrome (MKS) is a lethal autosomal recessive congenital anomaly syndrome caused by mutations in genes encoding proteins that are structural or functional components of the primary cilium. Conditions that are caused by mutations in ciliary genes are collectively termed the ciliopathies, and MKS represents the most severe condition in this group of disorders. The primary cilium is a microtubule-based organelle, projecting from the apical surface of vertebrate cells. It acts as an "antenna" that receives and transduces chemosensory and mechanosensory signals, but also regulates diverse signaling pathways, such as Wnt and Shh, that have important roles during embryonic development. Most MKS proteins localize to a distinct ciliary compartment called the transition zone (TZ) that regulates the trafficking of cargo proteins or lipids. In this review, we provide an up-to-date summary of MKS clinical features, molecular genetics, and clinical diagnosis. MKS has a highly variable phenotype, extreme genetic heterogeneity, and displays allelism with other related ciliopathies such as Joubert syndrome, presenting significant challenges to diagnosis. Recent advances in genetic technology, with the widespread use of multi-gene panels for molecular testing, have significantly improved diagnosis, genetic counseling, and the clinical management of MKS families. These include the description of some limited genotype-phenotype correlations. We discuss recent insights into the molecular basis of disease in MKS, since the functions of some of the relevant ciliary proteins have now been determined. A common molecular etiology appears to be disruption of ciliary TZ structure and function, affecting essential developmental signaling and the regulation of secondary messengers