Rejection in Łukasiewicz's and Słupecki's Sense

The idea of rejection originated by Aristotle. The notion of rejection was introduced into formal logic by Łukasiewicz [20]. He applied it to complete syntactic characterization of deductive systems using an axiomatic method of rejection of propositions [22, 23]. The paper gives not only genesis, but also development and generalization of the notion of rejection. It also emphasizes the methodological approach to biaspectual axiomatic method of characterization of deductive systems as acceptance (asserted) systems and rejection (refutation) systems, introduced by Łukasiewicz and developed by his student Słupecki, the pioneers of the method, which becomes relevant in modern approaches to logic

The molecular organization of differentially curved caveolae indicates bendable structural units at the plasma membrane

Caveolae are small coated plasma membrane invaginations with diverse functions. Caveolae undergo curvature changes. Yet, it is unclear which proteins regulate this process. To address this gap, we develop a correlative stimulated emission depletion (STED) fluorescence and platinum replica electron microscopy imaging (CLEM) method to image proteins at single caveolae. Caveolins and cavins are found at all caveolae, independent of curvature. EHD2 is detected at both low and highly curved caveolae. Pacsin2 associates with low curved caveolae and EHBP1 with mostly highly curved caveolae. Dynamin is absent from caveolae. Cells lacking dynamin show no substantial changes to caveolae, suggesting that dynamin is not directly involved in caveolae curvature. We propose a model where caveolins, cavins, and EHD2 assemble as a cohesive structural unit regulated by intermittent associations with pacsin2 and EHBP1. These coats can flatten and curve to enable lipid traffic, signaling, and changes to the surface area of the cell

Mitigation of carbon using Atriplex nummularia revegetation

The use of abandoned or marginally productive land to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions may avoid competition with food and water production. Atriplex nummularia Lindl. is a perennial shrub commonly established for livestock forage on saline land, however, its potential for carbon mitigation has not been systematically evaluated. Similarly, although revegetation is an allowable activity to mitigate carbon within Article 3.4 of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change's Kyoto Protocol, there is a paucity of information on rates of carbon mitigation in soils and biomass through this mechanism. For six sites where A. nummularia had been established across southern Australia four were used to assess changes in soil carbon storage and four were used to develop biomass carbon sequestration estimates. A generalised allometric equation for above and below ground biomass was developed, with a simple crown volume index explaining 81% of the variation in total biomass. There were no significant differences in soil organic carbon storage to 0.3 m or 2 m depth compared to existing agricultural land-use. Between 2.2 and 8.3 Mg C ha−1 or 0.2–0.6 Mg C ha−1 yr−1 was sequestered in above and below ground biomass and this translates to potential total sequestration of 1.1–3.6 Tg C yr−1 on saline land across Australia. Carbon income and forage grazing may thus provide a means to finance the stabilization of compromised land

Mission and system architecture for an operational network of earth observation satellite nodes

Nowadays, constellations and distributed networks of satellites are emerging as clear development trends in the space system market to enable augmentation, enhancement, and possibilities of new applications for future Earth Observation (EO) missions. While the adoption of these satellite architectures is gaining momentum for the attaining of ever more stringent application requirements and stakeholder needs, the efforts to analyze their benefits and suitability, and to assess their impact for future programmes remains as an open challenge to the EO community. In this context, this paper presents the mission and system architecture conceived during the Horizon 2020 ONION project, a European Union research activity that proposes a systematic approach to the optimization of EO space infrastructures. In particular, ONION addressed the design of complementary assets that progressively supplement current programs and took part in the exploration of needs and implementation of architectures for the Copernicus Space Component for EO. Among several use cases considered, the ONION project focused on proposing system architectures to provide improved revisit time, data latency and image resolution for a demanding application scenario of interest: Marine Weather Forecast (MWF). A set of promising system architectures has been subject of a comprehensive assessment, based on mission analysis expertise and detailed simulation for evaluating several key parameters such as revisit time and data latency of each measurement of interest, on-board memory evolution and power budget of each satellite of the constellation, ground station contacts and inter-satellite links. The architectures are built with several heterogeneous satellite nodes distributed in different orbital planes. Each platform can embark different instrument sets, which provide the required measurements for each use case. A detailed mission analysis has then been performed to the selected architecture for the MWF use case, including a refined data flow analysis to optimize system resources; a refined power budget analysis; a delta-V and a fuel budget analysis considering all the possible phases of the mission. This includes from the correction of launcher injection errors and acquisition of nominal satellite position inside the constellation, orbit maintenance to control altitude, collision avoidance to avoid collision with space debris objects and end-of-life (EOL) disposal to comply with EOL guidelines. The relevance of the system architecture selected for the MWF has been evaluated for three use cases of interest (Arctic sea-ice monitoring, maritime fishery pressure and aquaculture, agricultural hydric stress) to show the versatility and the feasibility of the chosen architecture to be adapted for other EO applications.This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 687490

Remodeling of Retinal Fatty Acids in an Animal Model of Diabetes: A Decrease in Long-Chain Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids Is Associated With a Decrease in Fatty Acid Elongases Elovl2 and Elovl4

OBJECTIVE: The results of the Diabetes Control and Complications Trial/Epidemiology of Diabetes Interventions and Complications cohort study revealed a strong association between dyslipidemia and the development of diabetic retinopathy. However, there are no experimental data on retinal fatty acid metabolism in diabetes. This study determined retinal-specific fatty acid metabolism in control and diabetic animals. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: Tissue gene and protein expression profiles were determined by quantitative RT-PCR and Western blot in control and streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats at 3-6 weeks of diabetes. Fatty acid profiles were assessed by reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography, and phospholipid analysis was performed by nano-electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry. RESULTS: We found a dramatic difference between retinal and liver elongase and desaturase profiles with high elongase and low desaturase gene expression in the retina compared with liver. Elovl4, an elongase expressed in the retina but not in the liver, showed the greatest expression level among retinal elongases, followed by Elovl2, Elovl1, and Elovl6. Importantly, early-stage diabetes induced a marked decrease in retinal expression levels of Elovl4, Elovl2, and Elovl6. Diabetes-induced downregulation of retinal elongases translated into a significant decrease in total retinal docosahexaenoic acid, as well as decreased incorporation of very-long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), particularly 32:6n3, into retinal phosphatidylcholine. This decrease in n3 PUFAs was coupled with inflammatory status in diabetic retina, reflected by an increase in gene expression of proinflammatory markers interleukin-6, vascular endothelial growth factor, and intercellular adhesion molecule-1. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first comprehensive study demonstrating diabetes-induced changes in retinal fatty acid metabolism. Normalization of retinal fatty acid levels by dietary means or/and modulating expression of elongases could represent a potential therapeutic target for diabetes-induced retinal inflammation

Stressed out symbiotes:hypotheses for the influence of abiotic stress on arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi

Abiotic stress is a widespread threat to both plant and soil communities. Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi can alleviate effects of abiotic stress by improving host plant stress tolerance, but the direct effects of abiotic stress on AM fungi are less well understood. We propose two hypotheses predicting how AM fungi will respond to abiotic stress. The stress exclusion hypothesis predicts that AM fungal abundance and diversity will decrease with persistent abiotic stress. The mycorrhizal stress adaptation hypothesis predicts that AM fungi will evolve in response to abiotic stress to maintain their fitness. We conclude that abiotic stress can have effects on AM fungi independent of the effects on the host plant. AM fungal communities will change in composition in response to abiotic stress, which may mean the loss of important individual species. This could alter feedbacks to the plant community and beyond. AM fungi will adapt to abiotic stress independent of their host plant. The adaptation of AM fungi to abiotic stress should allow the maintenance of the plant-AM fungal mutualism in the face of changing climates. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s00442-016-3673-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users

Trzydzieści lat ratownictwa wysokościowego w ochronie przeciwpożarowej

Artykuł zawiera przemyślenia autora na temat ratownictwa wysokościowego w związku ze zbliżającą się trzydziestą rocznicą jego funkcjonowania w strukturach Państwowej Straży Pożarnej.The article contains the author.s consideration on subject of rope-rescue, in relationship with approaching thirtieth anniversary of his functioning in structures of State Fire Service