Computer program for optical systems ray tracing

Program traces rays of light through optical systems consisting of up to 65 different optical surfaces and computes the aberrations. For design purposes, paraxial tracings with astigmation and third order tracings are provided

Hugh George Brennan: Glasgow University's first lecturer in Russian

To date little has been known, and less written, about the life of Hugh George Brennan, Glasgow University's first lecturer in Russian. The uncovering of previously unused Russian and British sources throwing fresh light on his life, intellectual development and occupations has made possible a fuller assessment of a significant figure in Glasgow's contribution to Slavonic Studies. Brennan lived and taught in Russia for 20 years. The resulting intense and unusually intimate experience of Russian life probably explains unconventional aspects of his Glasgow appointment. Brennan was an undoubted educational and social success in Russia. Events in the shape of the February Revolution of 1917 forced him to return to Britain. Glasgow's timely offer of a new position was the start of a very different life. This aspect of Brennan's career is reviewed mainly through his commitment to extensive public activities

Constructive role of dissipation for driven coupled bosonic modes

We describe four cases of childhood B-cell progenitor acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (BCP-ALL) and one of T-cell (T-ALL) with unexpected numbers of interphase signals for ETV6 with an ETV6-RUNX1 fusion probe. Three fusion negative cases each had a telomeric part of 12p terminating within intron 2 of ETV6, attached to sequences from 5q, 7p and 7q, respectively. Two fusion positive cases, with partial insertions of ETV6 into chromosome 21, also had a breakpoint in intron 2. Fluorescence in situ hybridisation ( FISH), array comparative genomic hybridization (aCGH) and Molecular Copy-Number Counting (MCC) results were concordant for the T-cell case. Sequences downstream of TLX3 on chromosome 5 were deleted, leaving the intact gene closely apposed to the first two exons of ETV6 and its upstream promoter. qRT-PCR showed a significant upregulation of TLX3. In this study we provide the first incontrovertible evidence that the upstream promoter of ETV6 attached to the first two exons of the gene was responsible for the ectopic expression of a proto-oncogene that became abnormally close as the result of deletion and translocation. We have also shown breakpoints in intron 2 of ETV6 in two cases of insertion with ETV6-RUNX1 fusion

From Novorossiisk to Alexandria: British involvement in the evacuation of White Russian refugees, 1920

Events during Russia’s Civil War (1918–1920) produced a serious refugee crisis focused on the port of Novorossiisk in south Russia towards the end of 1919 and the opening months of 1920. Lloyd George’s Coalition Government was persuaded to support a rescue mission of selected refugees with most to fear from a Bolshevik victory. The decision was taken against Admiralty advice and against Treasury unwillingness to meet expected high resettlement costs. Thousands of White Russians were rescued and, without wishing or planning the end, the British Government found itself saddled with distracting refugee responsibilities in the politically unstable Protectorate of Egypt

Reporte de valorización InRetail Perú Corp

El presente informe corresponde a la valoración del InRetail Perú Corp. y subsidiarias a través del método de Flujo de Caja Descontado. InRetail Perú Corp. es un agregado de empresas líderes en el sector retail con operaciones en Perú, Colombia, Ecuador y Bolivia a través de tres segmentos de negocio: Food Retail (supermercados), Pharma (manufactura y distribución de fármacos) y Shopping Malls (centros comerciales). Se busca determinar el valor de la empresa descontando los flujos de dinero que los segmentos estiman generar considerando como tasa de descuento su costo de oportunidad (WACC1); la data utilizada es al 30 de junio del 2020

Influence of the molding pressure on the magnetic properties of soft ferrite composite materials

International audienceExperimental studies on the complex susceptibility of soft magnetic composite materials (Ni and Ni-Zn spinels and YIG) in their region of spin resonance (SR) show that the SR frequency is a decreasing function of the magnetic concentration (demagnetising effects) which moreover tends to the natural spin resonance (NSR) frequency of the bulk material much before the unit concentration is reached. We take benefit of this remarkable property to show how powders could advantageously replace sintered materials to measure with no ambiguity (screening effects of domain wall oscillations) the NSR frequencies. Since composite materials are achieved by moulding processes under pressures, particular care of the technological stresses has been taken

Optimising EEG-fMRI for Localisation of Focal Epilepsy in Children

BACKGROUND: Early surgical intervention in children with drug resistant epilepsy has benefits but requires using tolerable and minimally invasive tests. EEG-fMRI studies have demonstrated good sensitivity for the localization of epileptic focus but a poor yield although the reasons for this have not been systematically addressed. While adults EEG-fMRI studies are performed in the "resting state"; children are commonly sedated however, this has associated risks and potential confounds. In this study, we assessed the impact of the following factors on the tolerability and results of EEG-fMRI in children: viewing a movie inside the scanner; movement; occurrence of interictal epileptiform discharges (IED); scan duration and design efficiency. This work's motivation is to optimize EEG-fMRI parameters to make this test widely available to paediatric population. METHODS: Forty-six children with focal epilepsy and 20 controls (6-18) underwent EEG-fMRI. For two 10 minutes sessions subjects were told to lie still with eyes closed, as it is classically performed in adult studies ("rest sessions"), for another two sessions, subjects watched a child friendly stimulation i.e. movie ("movie sessions"). IED were mapped with EEG-fMRI for each session and across sessions. The resulting maps were classified as concordant/discordant with the presumed epileptogenic focus for each subject. FINDINGS: Movement increased with scan duration, but the movie reduced movement by ~40% when played within the first 20 minutes. There was no effect of movie on the occurrence of IED, nor in the concordance of the test. Ability of EEG-fMRI to map the epileptogenic region was similar for the 20 and 40 minute scan durations. Design efficiency was predictive of concordance. CONCLUSIONS: A child friendly natural stimulus improves the tolerability of EEG-fMRI and reduces in-scanner movement without having an effect on IED occurrence and quality of EEG-fMRI maps. This allowed us to scan children as young as 6 and obtain localising information without sedation. Our data suggest that ~20 minutes is the optimal length of scanning for EEG-fMRI studies in children with frequent IED. The efficiency of the fMRI design derived from spontaneous IED generation is an important factor for producing concordant results

Nitrate-Dependent Iron Oxidation: A Potential Mars Metabolism

This work considers the hypothetical viability of microbial nitrate-dependent Fe2+ oxidation (NDFO) for supporting simple life in the context of the early Mars environment. This draws on knowledge built up over several decades of remote and in situ observation, as well as recent discoveries that have shaped current understanding of early Mars. Our current understanding is that certain early martian environments fulfill several of the key requirements for microbes with NDFO metabolism. First, abundant Fe2+ has been identified on Mars and provides evidence of an accessible electron donor; evidence of anoxia suggests that abiotic Fe2+ oxidation by molecular oxygen would not have interfered and competed with microbial iron metabolism in these environments. Second, nitrate, which can be used by some iron oxidizing microorganisms as an electron acceptor, has also been confirmed in modern aeolian and ancient sediment deposits on Mars. In addition to redox substrates, reservoirs of both organic and inorganic carbon are available for biosynthesis, and geochemical evidence suggests that lacustrine systems during the hydrologically active Noachian period (4.1–3.7 Ga) match the circumneutral pH requirements of nitrate-dependent iron-oxidizing microorganisms. As well as potentially acting as a primary producer in early martian lakes and fluvial systems, the light-independent nature of NDFO suggests that such microbes could have persisted in sub-surface aquifers long after the desiccation of the surface, provided that adequate carbon and nitrates sources were prevalent. Traces of NDFO microorganisms may be preserved in the rock record by biomineralization and cellular encrustation in zones of high Fe2+ concentrations. These processes could produce morphological biosignatures, preserve distinctive Fe-isotope variation patterns, and enhance preservation of biological organic compounds. Such biosignatures could be detectable by future missions to Mars with appropriate instrumentation

Origin of Evolution versus Origin of Life: A Shift of Paradigm

The question of the primordial ancestor must be approached through the search for the origin of evolution, not through the search for the origin of life. There is a major issue with the concept of life because it is impossible to define, thus is not a scientific but a metaphysical concept. On the contrary, evolution may be defined by as few as three conditions. These do not necessarily involve biopolymers. However, such an approach must give clues to explain the emergence of distinct lineages to allow Darwinian natural selection. A plausible solution exists within an autotrophic lipidic vesicle-based model that is presented. The model requires the existence of hydrothermal sites such as the Lost City Hydrothermal Field leading to specific constraints. For this reason Mars and Europa may be questioned as possible cradles of evolution. If we replace the search for the origin of life by the one for the origin of evolution our priority first is to find a consensus on the minimal conditions that would allow evolution to emerge and persist anywhere in the universe

Combined EEG-fMRI and ESI improves localisation of paediatric focal epilepsy

OBJECTIVE: Surgical treatment in epilepsy is effective if the epileptogenic zone (EZ) can be correctly localized and characterized. Here we use simultaneous Electroencephalography-functional MRI (EEG-fMRI) data to derive EEG-fMRI and Electrical Source Imaging (ESI) maps. Their yield and their individual and combined ability to 1) localize the epileptogenic zone and 2) predict seizure outcome was then evaluated. METHODS: Fifty-three children with drug-resistant epilepsy underwent EEG-fMRI. Interictal discharges were mapped using both EEG-fMRI haemodynamic responses and Electrical Source Imaging (ESI). A single localization was derived from each individual test (EEG-fMRI global maxima (GM)/ESI maxima) and from the combination of both maps (EEG-fMRI/ESI spatial intersection). To determine the localisation accuracy and its predictive performance the individual and combined test localisations were compared to the presumed EZ and to the postsurgical outcome. RESULTS: Fifty-two/53 patients had significant maps; 47/53 for EEG-fMRI; 44/53 for ESI; 34/53 had both. The epileptogenic zone was well characterised in 29 patients; 26 had an EEG-fMRI GM localisation which was correct in 11; 22 patients had ESI localisation which was correct in 17; 12 patients had combined EEG-fMRI and ESI which was correct in 11. Seizure outcome following resection was correctly predicted by EEG-fMRI GM in 8/20 patients, by the ESI maxima in 13/16. The combined EEG-fMRI/ESI region entirely predicted outcome in 9/9 patients including 3 with no lesion visible on MRI. INTERPRETATION: EEG-fMRI combined with ESI provides a simple unbiased localisation that may predict surgery better than each individual test including in MRI-negative patients