PLASMD BEARING A CDNA COPY OF THE GENOME OF BOVINE VIRAL DIARRHEA VIRUS, CHIMERIC DERIVATIVES THEREOF, AND METHOD OF PRODUCING AN INFECTIOUS BOVINE WRAL DARRHEAVIRUS USING SAD PLASMID

A plasmid bearing a cDNA copy of the genome of bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV), chimeric derivatives of the plasmid and a method of producing an infectious bovine viral diarrhea virus using the plasmid are disclosed. The invention relates to a plasmid DNA molecule that replicates easily in E. coli and contains a sufficient portion of the genome of BVDV, cloned as cDNA, to be a suitable template to produce RNA in vitro which, upon transfection into bovine cells, gives rise to infectious BVDV. The BVDV created by the process of the invention can be engineered for use as a vector in many advantageous applications

Metodología y experiencia de FLACAM en la educación de agentes del cambio para la sustentabilidad en Latinoamérica

El següent article ha estat preparat especialment per al desè número de la Revista Sostenible?, en base a diversos textos precedents, aquí ajustats, sintetitzats i actualitzats. El contingut resumeix els aspectes importants de l’enfocament i l’oferta d’educació superior del Foro Latinoamericano de Ciencias Ambientales (FLACAM) que, des de 1989, constitueix una proposta innovadora a Llatinoamèrica per formar agents del canvi cap a la sostenibilitat. L’article transita des del canvi de paradigma tal com s’ha vingut formalitzant en FLACAM, mitjançant avenços epistemològics, pedagògics i didàctics, per donar una semblança abarcativa però sintètica d’aquest veritable moviment cultural i científic que des de fa 20 anys va començar a incidir en la sostenibilitat.El siguiente artículo ha sido preparado especialmente para el número 10 de la Revista Sostenible?, en base a varios textos precedentes, aquí ajustados, sintetizados y actualizados. El contenido resume los aspectos salientes del enfoque y la oferta de educación superior del Foro Latinoamericano de Ciencias Ambientales (FLACAM), que desde 1989 constituye una propuesta innovadora en Latinoamérica para formar agentes del cambio hacia la sustentabilidad. El artículo transita desde el cambio de paradigma tal como se ha venido formalizando en FLACAM, a través de avances epistemológicos, pedagógicos y didácticos, para dar una semblanza abarcativa pero sintética de este verdadero movimiento cultural y científico que desde hace 20 años comenzó a incidir en la sustentabilidad.The following article was written specially for Issue 10 of the magazine Sostenible? and is based on various texts that were adapted, summarized and updated for this piece. It sums up the main aspects of the approach and higher education courses of the Latin American Forum of Environmental Sciences (FLACAM). Since 1989, FLACAM has been innovative in educating agents of change towards sustainability. The article describes the paradigm shift as it became consolidated in FLACAM, through epistemological, pedagogical and didactic advances. It also gives a comprehensive but concise picture of this cultural and scientific movement, which started to have an impact on sustainability 20 years ago.Peer Reviewe

An ab initio path integral Monte Carlo simulation method for molecules and clusters: application to Li_4 and Li_5^+

A novel method for simulating the statistical mechanics of molecular systems in which both nuclear and electronic degrees of freedom are treated quantum mechanically is presented. The scheme combines a path integral description of the nuclear variables with a first-principles adiabatic description of the electronic structure. The electronic problem is solved for the ground state within a density functional approach, with the electronic orbitals expanded in a localized (Gaussian) basis set. The discretized path integral is computed by a Metropolis Monte Carlo sampling technique on the normal modes of the isomorphic ring-polymer. An effective short-time action correct to order $\tau^4$ is used. The validity and performance of the method are tested in two small Lithium clusters, namely Li$_4$ and Li$_5^+$. Structural and electronic properties computed within this fully quantum-mechanical scheme are presented and compared to those obtained within the classical nuclei approximation. Quantum delocalization effects are significant but tunneling turns out to be irrelevant at low temperatures.Comment: 11 text pages, 7 figures, to be published in J. Chem. Phy

PLASMD BEARING A CDNA COPY OF THE GENOME OF BOVINE VIRAL DIARRHEA VIRUS, CHIMERIC DERIVATIVES THEREOF, AND METHOD OF PRODUCING AN INFECTIOUS BOVINE WRAL DARRHEAVIRUS USING SAD PLASMID

A plasmid bearing a cDNA copy of the genome of bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV), chimeric derivatives of the plasmid and a method of producing an infectious bovine viral diarrhea virus using the plasmid are disclosed. The invention relates to a plasmid DNA molecule that replicates easily in E. coli and contains a sufficient portion of the genome of BVDV, cloned as cDNA, to be a suitable template to produce RNA in vitro which, upon transfection into bovine cells, gives rise to infectious BVDV. The BVDV created by the process of the invention can be engineered for use as a vector in many advantageous applications

Image patch analysis of sunspots and active regions. II. Clustering via matrix factorization

Separating active regions that are quiet from potentially eruptive ones is a key issue in Space Weather applications. Traditional classification schemes such as Mount Wilson and McIntosh have been effective in relating an active region large scale magnetic configuration to its ability to produce eruptive events. However, their qualitative nature prevents systematic studies of an active region's evolution for example. We introduce a new clustering of active regions that is based on the local geometry observed in Line of Sight magnetogram and continuum images. We use a reduced-dimension representation of an active region that is obtained by factoring the corresponding data matrix comprised of local image patches. Two factorizations can be compared via the definition of appropriate metrics on the resulting factors. The distances obtained from these metrics are then used to cluster the active regions. We find that these metrics result in natural clusterings of active regions. The clusterings are related to large scale descriptors of an active region such as its size, its local magnetic field distribution, and its complexity as measured by the Mount Wilson classification scheme. We also find that including data focused on the neutral line of an active region can result in an increased correspondence between our clustering results and other active region descriptors such as the Mount Wilson classifications and the $R$ value. We provide some recommendations for which metrics, matrix factorization techniques, and regions of interest to use to study active regions.Comment: Accepted for publication in the Journal of Space Weather and Space Climate (SWSC). 33 pages, 12 figure

Image patch analysis of sunspots and active regions. I. Intrinsic dimension and correlation analysis

The flare-productivity of an active region is observed to be related to its spatial complexity. Mount Wilson or McIntosh sunspot classifications measure such complexity but in a categorical way, and may therefore not use all the information present in the observations. Moreover, such categorical schemes hinder a systematic study of an active region's evolution for example. We propose fine-scale quantitative descriptors for an active region's complexity and relate them to the Mount Wilson classification. We analyze the local correlation structure within continuum and magnetogram data, as well as the cross-correlation between continuum and magnetogram data. We compute the intrinsic dimension, partial correlation, and canonical correlation analysis (CCA) of image patches of continuum and magnetogram active region images taken from the SOHO-MDI instrument. We use masks of sunspots derived from continuum as well as larger masks of magnetic active regions derived from the magnetogram to analyze separately the core part of an active region from its surrounding part. We find the relationship between complexity of an active region as measured by Mount Wilson and the intrinsic dimension of its image patches. Partial correlation patterns exhibit approximately a third-order Markov structure. CCA reveals different patterns of correlation between continuum and magnetogram within the sunspots and in the region surrounding the sunspots. These results also pave the way for patch-based dictionary learning with a view towards automatic clustering of active regions.Comment: Accepted for publication in the Journal of Space Weather and Space Climate (SWSC). 23 pages, 11 figure

Construction supply chain modeling : a research review and interdisciplinary research agenda

Supply chain management has emerged as a popular and useful concept in the construction industry and research community since the mid 1990s. Research in construction supply chain management draws from a broad range of disciplines, notably: (1) Industrial organization economics to better understand market structure and forces and their effect on firm and supply chain behavior and (2) Analytic modeling of supply chains to improve supply chain performance along metrics such as speed, cost, reliability, quality, etc. Both industrial organization and analytic modeling provide useful but ultimately incomplete perspectives and prescriptions for construction supply chain management. As such, this paper proposes development of an interdisciplinary research agenda that draws from both fields. Towards that agenda, a review of research is presented to introduce the main ideas, relevant literature, and theory and methods in each of the two areas. From these independent reviews, applications that could benefit from a combined perspective are identified and used as a basis for development of an interdisciplinary research agenda.<br /