312 research outputs found
Weak G-band stars on the H-R Diagram: Clues to the origin of Li anomaly
Weak G-band (WGB) stars are a rare class of cool luminous stars that present
a strong depletion in carbon, but also lithium abundance anomalies that have
been little explored in the literature since the first discovery of these
peculiar objects in the early 50's. Here we focus on the Li-rich WGB stars and
report on their evolutionary status. We explore different paths to propose a
tentative explanation for the lithium anomaly. Using archive data, we derive
the fundamental parameters of WGB (Teff, log g, log(L/Lsun)) using Hipparcos
parallaxes and recent temperature scales. From the equivalent widths of Li
resonance line at 6707 {\AA}, we uniformly derive the lithium abundances and
apply when possible NLTE corrections following the procedure described by Lind
et al. (2009). We also compute dedicated stellar evolution models in the mass
range 3.0 to 4.5 Msun, exploring the effects of rotation-induced and
thermohaline mixing. These models are used to locate the WGB stars in the H-R
diagram and to explore the origin of the abundance anomalies. The location of
WGB stars in the H-R diagram shows that these are intermediate mass stars of
masses ranging from 3.0 to 4.5 Msun located at the clump, which implies a
degeneracy of their evolutionary status between subgiant/red giant branch and
core helium burning phases. The atmospheres of a large proportion of WGB stars
(more than 50%) exhibit lithium abundances A(Li) \geq 1.4 dex similar to
Li-rich K giants. The position of WGB stars along with the Li-rich K giants in
the H-R diagram however indicates that both are well separated groups. The
combined and tentatively consistent analysis of the abundance pattern for
lithium, carbon and nitrogen of WGB stars seems to indicate that carbon
underabundance could be decorrelated from the lithium and nitrogen
overabundances.Comment: 13 pages, 3 figures, Accepted for publication in Astronomy and
Astrophysic
Biotic homogenization of oceanic islands depends on taxon, spatial scale and the quantification approach
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Toll-like receptor 4 contributes to vascular remodelling and endothelial dysfunction in angiotensin II-induced hypertension
This is the peer-reviewed version of the following article: "Toll-like receptor 4 contributes to vascular remodelling and endothelial
dysfunction in angiotensin II-induced hypertension", British Journal of Pharmacology 172.12 (2015): 3159-76 which has been published in final form at http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/bph.13117 This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley-VCH Terms and Conditions for Self-ArchivingBackground and Purpose
Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) signalling contributes to inflammatory cardiovascular diseases, but its role in hypertension and the associated vascular damage is not known. We investigated whether TLR4 activation contributed to angiotensin II (AngII)-induced hypertension and the associated vascular structural, mechanical and functional alterations.
Experimental Approach
AngII was infused (1.44 mg·kg−1·day−1, s.c.) for 2 weeks in C57BL6 mice, treated with a neutralizing anti-TLR4 antibody or IgG (1 μg·day−1); systolic BP (SBP) and aortic cytokine levels were measured. Structural, mechanical and contractile properties of aortic and mesenteric arterial segments were measured with myography and histology. RT-PCR and Western blotting were used to analyse these tissues and cultured vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMC) from hypertensive rats (SHR).
Key Results
Aortic TLR4 mRNA levels were raised by AngII infusion. Anti-TLR4 antibody treatment of AngII-treated mice normalised: (i) increased SBP and TNF-α, IL-6 and CCL2 levels; (ii) vascular structural and mechanical changes; (iii) altered aortic phenylephrine- and ACh-induced responses; (iv) increased NOX-1 mRNA levels, superoxide anion production and NAD(P)H oxidase activity and effects of catalase, apocynin, ML-171 and Mito-TEMPO on vascular responses; and (v) reduced NO release and effects of L-NAME on phenylephrine-induced contraction. In VSMC, the MyD88 inhibitor ST-2825 reduced AngII-induced NAD(P)H oxidase activity. The TLR4 inhibitor CLI-095 reduced AngII-induced increased phospho-JNK1/2 and p65 NF-κB subunit nuclear protein expression.
Conclusions and Implications
TLR4 up-regulation by AngII contributed to the inflammation, endothelial dysfunction, vascular remodelling and stiffness associated with hypertension by mechanisms involving oxidative stress. MyD88-dependent activation and JNK/NF-κB signalling pathways participated in these alterationsThis work was supported by Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad
(SAF2012-36400), Instituto de Salud Carlos III (Red de Investigación Cardiovascular
RD12/0042/0024 and RD12/0042/0033) and URJC (PRIN13_CS12). AMB was
supported by the Ramón y Cajal Program (RYC-2010-06473)
CALIFA, the Calar Alto Legacy Integral Field Area survey: I. Survey presentation
We present here the Calar Alto Legacy Integral Field Area (CALIFA) survey,
which has been designed to provide a first step in this direction.We summarize
the survey goals and design, including sample selection and observational
strategy.We also showcase the data taken during the first observing runs
(June/July 2010) and outline the reduction pipeline, quality control schemes
and general characteristics of the reduced data. This survey is obtaining
spatially resolved spectroscopic information of a diameter selected sample of
galaxies in the Local Universe (0.005< z <0.03). CALIFA has been
designed to allow the building of two-dimensional maps of the following
quantities: (a) stellar populations: ages and metallicities; (b) ionized gas:
distribution, excitation mechanism and chemical abundances; and (c) kinematic
properties: both from stellar and ionized gas components. CALIFA uses the PPAK
Integral Field Unit (IFU), with a hexagonal field-of-view of
\sim1.3\sq\arcmin', with a 100% covering factor by adopting a three-pointing
dithering scheme. The optical wavelength range is covered from 3700 to 7000
{\AA}, using two overlapping setups (V500 and V1200), with different
resolutions: R\sim850 and R\sim1650, respectively. CALIFA is a legacy survey,
intended for the community. The reduced data will be released, once the quality
has been guaranteed. The analyzed data fulfill the expectations of the original
observing proposal, on the basis of a set of quality checks and exploratory
analysis.
We conclude from this first look at the data that CALIFA will be an important
resource for archaeological studies of galaxies in the Local Universe.Comment: 32 pages, 29 figures, Accepted for publishing in Astronomy and
Astrophysic
Morphology Analysis of Si Island Arrays on Si(001)
The formation of nanometer-scale islands is an important issue for bottom-up-based schemes in novel electronic, optoelectronic and magnetoelectronic devices technology. In this work, we present a detailed atomic force microscopy analysis of Si island arrays grown by molecular beam epitaxy. Recent reports have shown that self-assembled distributions of fourfold pyramid-like islands develop in 5-nm thick Si layers grown at substrate temperatures of 650 and 750°C on HF-prepared Si(001) substrates. Looking for wielding control and understanding the phenomena involved in this surface nanostructuring, we develop and apply a formalism that allows for processing large area AFM topographic images in a shot, obtaining surface orientation maps with specific information on facets population. The procedure reveals some noticeable features of these Si island arrays, e.g. a clear anisotropy of the in-plane local slope distributions. Total island volume analysis also indicates mass transport from the substrate surface to the 3D islands, a process presumably related to the presence of trenches around some of the pyramids. Results are discussed within the framework of similar island arrays in homoepitaxial and heteroepitaxial semiconductor systems
Markov Influence Diagrams.
Markov influence diagrams (MIDs) are a new type of probabilistic graphical model that extends influence diagrams in the same way that Markov decision trees extend decision trees. They have been designed to build state-transition models, mainly in medicine, and perform cost-effectiveness analyses. Using a causal graph that may contain several variables per cycle, MIDs can model various patient characteristics without multiplying the number of states; in particular, they can represent the history of the patient without using tunnel states. OpenMarkov, an open-source tool, allows the decision analyst to build and evaluate MIDs-including cost-effectiveness analysis and several types of deterministic and probabilistic sensitivity analysis-with a graphical user interface, without writing any code. This way, MIDs can be used to easily build and evaluate complex models whose implementation as spreadsheets or decision trees would be cumbersome or unfeasible in practice. Furthermore, many problems that previously required discrete event simulation can be solved with MIDs; i.e., within the paradigm of state-transition models, in which many health economists feel more comfortable
Seasonal drought limits tree species across the Neotropics
Within the tropics, the species richness of tree communities is strongly and positively associated with precipitation. Previous research has suggested that this macroecological pattern is driven by the negative effect of water-stress on the physiological processes of most tree species. This process implies that the range limits of taxa are defined by their ability to occur under dry conditions, and thus in terms of species distributions it predicts a nested pattern of taxa distribution from wet to dry areas. However, this ‘dry-tolerance’ hypothesis has yet to be adequately tested at large spatial and taxonomic scales. Here, using a dataset of 531 inventory plots of closed canopy forest distributed across the Western Neotropics we investigated how precipitation, evaluated both as mean annual precipitation and as the maximum climatological water deficit, influences the distribution of tropical tree species, genera and families. We find that the distributions of tree taxa are indeed nested along precipitation gradients in the western Neotropics. Taxa tolerant to seasonal drought are disproportionally widespread across the precipitation gradient, with most reaching even the wettest climates sampled; however, most taxa analysed are restricted to wet areas. Our results suggest that the ‘dry tolerance’ hypothesis has broad applicability in the world's most species-rich forests. In addition, the large number of species restricted to wetter conditions strongly indicates that an increased frequency of drought could severely threaten biodiversity in this region. Overall, this study establishes a baseline for exploring how tropical forest tree composition may change in response to current and future environmental changes in this region
Seasonal drought limits tree species across the Neotropics
AcceptedArticle in Press© 2016 Nordic Society Oikos.Within the tropics, the species richness of tree communities is strongly and positively associated with precipitation. Previous research has suggested that this macroecological pattern is driven by the negative effect of water-stress on the physiological processes of most tree species. This implies that the range limits of taxa are defined by their ability to occur under dry conditions, and thus in terms of species distributions predicts a nested pattern of taxa distribution from wet to dry areas. However, this 'dry-tolerance' hypothesis has yet to be adequately tested at large spatial and taxonomic scales. Here, using a dataset of 531 inventory plots of closed canopy forest distributed across the western Neotropics we investigated how precipitation, evaluated both as mean annual precipitation and as the maximum climatological water deficit, influences the distribution of tropical tree species, genera and families. We find that the distributions of tree taxa are indeed nested along precipitation gradients in the western Neotropics. Taxa tolerant to seasonal drought are disproportionally widespread across the precipitation gradient, with most reaching even the wettest climates sampled; however, most taxa analysed are restricted to wet areas. Our results suggest that the 'dry tolerance' hypothesis has broad applicability in the world's most species-rich forests. In addition, the large number of species restricted to wetter conditions strongly indicates that an increased frequency of drought could severely threaten biodiversity in this region. Overall, this study establishes a baseline for exploring how tropical forest tree composition may change in response to current and future environmental changes in this region.This paper is a product of the RAINFOR and ATDN networks and of ForestPlots.net
researchers (http://www.forestplots.net). RAINFOR and ForestPlots have been
supported by a Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation grant, the European Union’s
Seventh Framework Programme (283080, ‘GEOCARBON’; 282664,
‘AMAZALERT’); European Research Council (ERC) grant ‘Tropical Forests in the
Changing Earth System’ (T-FORCES), and Natural Environment Research Council
(NERC) Urgency Grant and NERC Consortium Grants ‘AMAZONICA’
(NE/F005806/1) and ‘TROBIT’ (NE/D005590/1). Additional funding for fieldwork was
provided by Tropical Ecology Assessment and Monitoring (TEAM) Network, a
collaboration among Conservation International, the Missouri Botanical Garden, the
Smithsonian Institution, and the Wildlife Conservation Society. A.E.M. receives a PhD
scholarship from the T-FORCES ERC grant. O.L.P. is supported by an ERC Advanced
Grant and a Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit Award. We thank Jon J. Lloyd,
Chronis Tzedakis, David Galbraith, and two anonymous reviewers for helpful
comments and Dylan Young for helping with the analyses. This study would not be
possible without the extensive contributions of numerous field assistants and rural
communities in the Neotropical forests. Alfredo Alarcón, Patricia Alvarez Loayza,
Plínio Barbosa Camargo, Juan Carlos Licona, Alvaro Cogollo, Massiel Corrales
Medina, Jose Daniel Soto, Gloria Gutierrez, Nestor Jaramillo Jarama, Laura Jessica
Viscarra, Irina Mendoza Polo, Alexander Parada Gutierrez, Guido Pardo, Lourens
Poorter, Adriana Prieto, Freddy Ramirez Arevalo, Agustín Rudas, Rebeca Sibler and
Javier Silva Espejo additionally contributed data to this study though their RAINFOR
participations. We further thank those colleagues no longer with us, Jean Pierre Veillon,
Samuel Almeida, Sandra Patiño and Raimundo Saraiva. Many data come from Alwyn
Gentry, whose example has inspired new generations to investigate the diversity of the
Neotropics
Computational approaches to explainable artificial intelligence: Advances in theory, applications and trends
Deep Learning (DL), a groundbreaking branch of Machine Learning (ML), has emerged as a driving force in both theoretical and applied Artificial Intelligence (AI). DL algorithms, rooted in complex and non-linear artificial neural systems, excel at extracting high-level features from data. DL has demonstrated human-level performance in real-world tasks, including clinical diagnostics, and has unlocked solutions to previously intractable problems in virtual agent design, robotics, genomics, neuroimaging, computer vision, and industrial automation. In this paper, the most relevant advances from the last few years in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and several applications to neuroscience, neuroimaging, computer vision, and robotics are presented, reviewed and discussed. In this way, we summarize the state-of-the-art in AI methods, models and applications within a collection of works presented at the 9th International Conference on the Interplay between Natural and Artificial Computation (IWINAC). The works presented in this paper are excellent examples of new scientific discoveries made in laboratories that have successfully transitioned to real-life applications.MCIU - Nvidia(UMA18-FEDERJA-084
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