Acoustoelectric luminescence from a field-effect n-i-p lateral junction

A surface-acoustic-wave (SAW) driven light-emitting-diode structure that can implement a single-photon-source for quantum-cryptography applications is demonstrated. Our lateral n-i-p junction is realized starting from an undoped GaAs/AlGaAs quantum well by gating. It incorporates interdigitated transducers for SAW generation and lateral gates for current control. We demonstrate acoustoelectric transport and SAW-driven electroluminescence. The acoustoelectric current can be controlled down to complete pinch-off by means of the lateral gates

Community impact of integrative therapy for renal patients people during session hemodialysis

Objective: To understand the repercussions of Integrated Community Therapy (ICT) for people during renal hemodialysis session. Method: Field research intervention type, with exploratory and descriptive goals, performed in a qualitative approach. The ICT was held in July 2011, people with renal disease were eligible, who underwent hemodialysis from 6 pm to 10 pm. The hemodialysis circle was recorded, videotaped and transcribed. The video was presented to the participants, and then they were interviewed. The transcription of the circle and the interviews were subjected to thematic analysis. Results: It was observed that the circle provoked an explosion of feelings: excitement, admiration and compassion, even in the facial transformation of people: from afflicted/grieved, the serene and joy ful as the circle was developing. Conclusion: The ICT was a practice for the care, by providing the opportunity to express feelings, to promote reflection on the experience, condition, treatment and strengthening to cope with their difficulties

Prevalence and characterization of hypogonadism among men with human immunodeficiency virus infection: preliminary results

Preliminary results on the prevalence of male hypogonadism in HIV-infected me

Rotating-Coil Measurement System for Small-Bore-Diameter Magnet Characterization

Rotating-coil measurement systems are widely used to measure the multipolar fields of particle accelerator magnets. This paper presents a rotating-coil measurement system that aims at providing a complete data set for the characterization of quadrupole magnets with small bore diameters (26 mm). The PCB magnetometer design represents a challenging goal for this type of transducer. It is characterized by an aspect ratio 30% higher than the state of the art, imposed by the reduced dimension of the external radius of the rotating shaft and the necessity of covering the entire magnet effective length (500 mm or higher). The system design required a novel design for the mechanical asset, also considering the innovation represented by the commercial carbon fiber tube, housing the PCB magnetometer. Moreover, the measurement system is based primarily on standard and commercially available components, with simplified control and post-processing software applications. The system and its components are cross-calibrated using a stretched-wire system and another rotating-coil system. The measurement precision is established in a measurement campaign performed on a quadrupole magnet characterized by an inner bore diameter of 45 mm

Discovering the Repeatome of Five Species Belonging to the Asteraceae Family: A Computational Study

Genome divergence by repeat proliferation and/or loss is a process that plays a crucial role in species evolution. Nevertheless, knowledge of the variability related to repeat proliferation among species of the same family is still limited. Considering the importance of the Asteraceae family, here we present a first contribution towards the metarepeatome of five Asteraceae species. A comprehensive picture of the repetitive components of all genomes was obtained by genome skimming with Illumina sequence reads and by analyzing a pool of full-length long terminal repeat retrotransposons (LTR-REs). Genome skimming allowed us to estimate the abundance and variability of repetitive components. The structure of the metagenome of the selected species was composed of 67% repetitive sequences, of which LTR-REs represented the bulk of annotated clusters. The species essentially shared ribosomal DNA sequences, whereas the other classes of repetitive DNA were highly variable among species. The pool of full-length LTR-REs was retrieved from all the species and their age of insertion was established, showing several lineage-specific proliferation peaks over the last 15-million years. Overall, a large variability of repeat abundance at superfamily, lineage, and sublineage levels was observed, indicating that repeats within individual genomes followed different evolutionary and temporal dynamics, and that different events of amplification or loss of these sequences may have occurred after species differentiation

Genome-wide identification and characterisation of exapted transposable elements in the large genome of sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.)

Transposable elements (TEs) are an important source of genome variability, playing many roles in the evolution of eukaryotic species. Besides well-known phenomena, TEs may undergo the exaptation process and generate the so-called exapted transposable element genes (ETEs). Here we present a genome-wide survey of ETEs in the large genome of sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.), in which the massive amount of TEs, provides a significant source for exaptation. A library of sunflower TEs was used to build TE-specific Hidden Markov Model profiles, to search for all available sunflower gene products. In doing so, 20,016 putative ETEs were identified and further investigated for the characteristics that distinguish TEs from genes, leading to the validation of 3,530 ETEs. The analysis of ETEs transcription patterns under different stress conditions showed a differential regulation triggered by treatments mimicking biotic and abiotic stress; furthermore, the distribution of functional domains of differentially regulated ETEs revealed a relevant presence of domains involved in many aspects of cellular functions. A comparative genomic investigation was performed including species representative of Asterids and appropriate outgroups: the bulk of ETEs resulted specific to the sunflower, while few ETEs presented orthologues in the genome of all analysed species, making the hypothesis of a conserved function. This study highlights the crucial role played by exaptation, actively contributing to species evolution

A utilização do mapa mental como ferramenta facilitadora no desenvolvimento da habilidade da escrita

Ao contrário dos métodos lineares de registro das informações, o MapaMental é um instrumento que auxilia o educando a registrar e organizar as informações processando os pensamentos, ideias ou fatos de acordo com o tema central. Este não depende de grandes quantidades de texto escrito, mas linhas, símbolos, palavras-chave, cores e imagens ou qualquer outra forma de comunicação estabelecida pelo usuário. Este artigo tem por objetivo analisar a percepção dos acadêmicos quanto à eficácia do uso do mapa mental na produção científica textual. A pesquisa bibliográfica aborda conceitos do processo metacognitivo, deautorregulação e a inclusão desta ferramenta em estudo no processo de aprendizagem. Tem abordagem quantitativa e qualitativa, sendo que se caracteriza como um estudo exploratório-descritivo para o qual se utilizou, como procedimento metodológico, o emprego de um questionário com perguntas fechadas e abertas, as quais exigiram uma análise descritiva e de discurso. O questionário é uma adaptação do instrumento criado e validado por Wille (2010). A população investigada é composta por 104 acadêmicos de duas instituições do ensino superior do Estado de Santa Catarina. O estudo emprega o método de abordagem indutivo e também se utiliza do método de procedimentocomparativo, por meio do qual se investigam fatos nas duas instituições e se busca explicá-los segundo suas semelhanças e diferenças.Notadamente, o mapa mental se mostra um instrumento regulatório da aprendizagem e um facilitador do processo de produção textual assim como um gerenciador na aquisição do conhecimento por se tratar de um instrumento autorregulatório do processo metacognitivo da aprendizagem, podendo ser utilizado no cotidiano do estudante desde que este esteja motivado e tenha objetivos claros e bem definidos

The "Gender factor" in wearing-off among patients with Parkinson’s disease: a post hoc analysis of DEEP study

Background. The early detection of wearing-off in Parkinson disease (DEEP) observational study demonstrated that women with Parkinson’s disease (PD) carry an increased risk (80.1%) for wearing-off (WO). This post hoc analysis of DEEP study evaluates gender differences onWO and associated phenomena. Methods. Patients on dopaminergic treatment for ≥1 year were included in this multicenter observational cross-sectional study. In a single visit, WO was diagnosed based on neurologist assessment as well as the use of the 19-item wearing-off questionnaire (WOQ-19);WO was defined for scores ≥2. Post hoc analyses were conducted to investigate gender difference for demographic and clinical features with respect toWO. Results. Of 617 patients enrolled, 236 were women and 381 were men. Prevalence of WO was higher among women, according to both neurologists’ judgment (61.9% versus 53.8%, P = 0.045) and theWOQ-19 analysis (72.5% versus 64.0%, P = 0.034). In patients withWO (WOQ-19), women experienced ≥1 motor symptom in 72.5% versus 64.0% in men and ≥1 nonmotor symptom in 44.5% versus 36.7%, in men. Conclusions. Our results suggestWO as more common among women, for both motor and nonmotor symptoms. Prospective studies are warranted to investigate this potential gender-effect

Attitude of Italian medical oncologists toward palliative care for patients with advanced cancer: results of the SIO project.

The aim of this survey was to describe the attitude of Italian oncologists towards palliative care. A survey on palliative care was carried out among 400 Italian oncologists. Seventy-two percent indicated that the management of patients with advanced stage cancer represents the majority of their practice. They are often involved in the management of pain (78%) and complications of chemotherapy (61%), and frequently, in the treatment of terminal patients (60%). Only 8.5% reported having frequent collaboration with psychiatrists in support of emotional and psychological patients' disturbances. About 40% are often directly involved in the management of existential or spiritual distress. Discussions on euthanasia and assisted suicide, which are illegal in Italy, took place never (68%) or occasionally (27%). Respondents agreed that all oncology centres should have access to palliative care service. These results are in line with those of the European Society of Medical Oncology survey and may be usefully employed to improve the organisation of palliative care