Light-Emitting Devices – Luminescence from Low-Dimensional Nanostructures

[no abstract available

A Note On Asymptotic Smoothness Of The Extensions Of Zadeh

The concept of asymptotic smooth transformation was introduced by J. Hale [10]. It is a very important property for a transformation between complete metric spaces to have a global attractor. This property has also consequences on asymptotic stability of attractors. In our work we study the conditions under which the Zadeh's extension of a continuous map f : R n → R n is asymptotically smooth in the complete metric space JF(R n) of normal fuzzy sets with the induced Hausdorff metric d ∞ (see Kloeden and Diamond [8]).212141153Barros, L.C., Bassanezi, R.C., Tonelli, P.A., On the continuity of Zadeh's extension (1997) Proceedings Seventh IFSA World Congress, 2, pp. 3-8. , PragueBarros, L.C., Bassanezi, R.C., Tonelli, P.A., Fuzzy modeling in populations dynamics (2000) Ecological Modeling, 128, pp. 27-33Brumley, W.E., On the asymptotic behavior of solutions of differential difference equations of neutral type (1970) J. of Differential Equations, 7, pp. 175-188Cabrelli, C.A., Forte, B., Molter, U., Vrscay, E., Iterated Fuzzy Sets Systems: A new approach to the inverse for fractals and other sets (1992) J. of Math. Anal, and Appl., 171, pp. 79-100Cooperman, G., (1978) α-Condensing Maps and Dissipative Processes, , Ph. D. Thesis, Brown University, Providence, R. IDiamond, P., Chaos in iterated fuzzy systems (1994) J. of Mathematical Analysis and Applications, 184, pp. 472-484Diamond, P., Time Dependent Differential Inclusions, Cocycle Attractors and Fuzzy Differential Equations (1999) IEEE Trans. on Fuzzy Systems, 7, pp. 734-740Diamond, P., Kloeden, P., (1994) Metric Spaces of Fuzzy Sets: Theory and Applications, , World Scientific PubFriedmann, M., Ma, M., Kandel, A., Numerical solutions of fuzzy differential and integral equations (1999) Fuzzy Sets and Systems, 106, pp. 35-48Hale, J.K., Asymptotic Behavior of Dissipative Systems (1988) Math. Surveys and Monographs, 25. , American Mathematical Society, ProvidenceHüllermeier, E., An Approach to Modeling and Simulation of Uncertain Dynamical Systems (1997) J. Uncertainty, Fuzziness, Know Ledge-Bases Syst., 5, pp. 117-137Kloeden, P.E., Fuzzy dynamical systems (1982) Fuzzy Sets and Systems, 7, pp. 275-296Kloeden, P.E., Chaotic iterations of fuzzy sets (1991) Fuzzy Sets and Systems, 42, pp. 37-42Nguyen, H.T., A note on thé extension principle for fuzzy sets (1978) J. Math. Anal. Appl., 64, pp. 369-380Puri, M.L., Ralescu, D.A., Fuzzy Random Variables (1986) J. of Mathematical Analysis and Applications, 114, pp. 409-422Roman-Flores, H., Barros, L.C., Bassanezzi, R., A note on Zadeh's Extensions (2001) Fuzzy Sets and Systems, 117, pp. 327-331Roman-Flores, H., On the Compactness of E(X) (1998) Appl. Math. Lett., 11, pp. 13-17Zadeh, L.A., Fuzzy sets (1965) Inform. Control, 8, pp. 338-35

First report of partial albinism in genus Thrichomys (Rodentia: Echimyidae)

Reports about albinism in rodents are common. In the family Echimyidae, however, albinism is very rare. This is the second case of coat color variation reported within Echimyidae and the first for the genus Thrichomys. The pelages of Thrichomys pachyurus individuals with normal and variant coat color were observed under a fluorescent artificial light and were examined with a stereoscopic microscope. The descriptions of pelage color were based on the book "Color Standards and Color Nomenclature". The predominantly white pattern of coat color in individuals of T. pachyurus suggests a partial albinism caused by delay in migration time of melanoblasts from neural crest to epidermis. The habitat of T. pachyurus has a heavy vegetative cover, which offers natural protection against predators and high-quality nutrition.Registros de albinismo em roedores são comuns. Na família Echimyidae, no entanto, albinismo é muito raro. Este é o segundo caso de variação da cor da pelagem registrado para Echimyidae e o primeiro para o gênero Thrichomys. A pelagem de indivíduos de Thrichomys pachyurus com a cor normal e a variante foram observados sob luz fluorescente artificial e foram examinados com um microscópio estereoscópico. As descrições da cor da pelagem foram baseados no livro "Color Standards and Color Nomenclature". O padrão predominantemente branco da cor da pelagem no indivíduo de T. pachyurus sugere um abinismo parcial causado pelo atraso no tempo de migração dos melanoblastos da crista neural para a epiderme. O habitat de T. pachyurus tem uma densa cobertura vegetal, que oferece proteção natural contra predadores e nutrição de alta qualidade

Anti-inflammatory activity of Lychnophora passerina, Asteraceae (Brazilian “Arnica”)

AbstractEthnopharmacological relevanceLychnophora passerina (Asteraceae), popularly known as “arnica,” is used to treat inflammation, pain, rheumatism, contusions, bruises and insect bites in Brazilian traditional medicine.Materials and methodsThe anti-inflammatory activity of crude ethanolic extract of aerial parts of L. passerina and its ethyl acetate and methanolic fractions had their abilities to modulate the production of NO, TNF-α and IL-10 inflammatory mediators in LPS/IFN-γ-stimulated J774.A1 macrophages evaluated. Moreover, the crude ethanolic extract and derived fractions were also in vivo assayed by carrageenan-induced paw oedema in mice.ResultsIn vitro assays showed remarkable anti-inflammatory activity of L. passerina crude ethanolic extract (EE) and its ethyl acetate (A) and methanolic (M) fractions, through the inhibition of production of NO and TNF-α inflammatory mediators and induction of production of IL-10 anti-inflammatory cytokine. In vivo assays showed anti-inflammatory activity for EE 10% ointment, similar to the standard drug diclofenac gel. The A and M fraction ointments 20% presented anti-inflammatory activity.ConclusionThe results obtained showed that possible anti-inflammatory effects of EE and its A and M fractions may be attributed to inhibition pro-inflammatory cytokines production, TNF-α and NO and to increased IL-10 production. EE, A and M ointments showed topical in vivo anti-inflammatory activity. The in vivo anti-inflammatory activity of EE of L. passerina may be related to synergistic effects of different substances in the crude extract. Therefore, traditional use of aerial parts of L. passerina in the inflammatory conditions could be beneficial to treat topical inflammatory conditions, as evidenced by the present study

Family Health Development in Life Course Research: A Scoping Review of Family Functioning Measures

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Our objective is to identify common family functioning measurement tools and assess their compatibility with family-health development and life-course perspectives. METHODS: Data sources include PubMed, ERIC, CINAHL, Families and Societies Worldwide, PsychInfo, Web of Science, PsychNet, and Health and Psychosocial Instruments. Title and abstract screening and full-text review of articles were conducted by multiple reviewers based on prespecified inclusion criteria. Data extraction focused on features of identified measurements tools, including: (1) name (2) domains of family functioning measured, (3) established psychometric properties, and (4) original context of psychometric evaluation (eg, details about the study sample). RESULTS: Of the 50 measurement tools identified, 94% measured organizational patterns (eg, flexibility, connectedness, or resources), 46% measured belief systems (eg, making meaning of adversity, or positive outlook), and 54% measured communication processes (eg, open emotional sharing, or collaborative problem-solving). CONCLUSIONS: Existing measures of family functioning can aid life-course researchers in understanding family processes as contexts for health and well-being. There also remain opportunities to refine or develop measures of family functioning more compatible with a life-course perspective that assess family processes (1) at various life stages; (2) with various backgrounds, identities, structures, and experiences; and (3) embedded in or impacted by various contexts that may facilitate or hinder family functioning

A genome-wide association study using a DNA pooling strategy identifies BBS9 and GLIS3 as novel loci influencing patient’s outcome after stroke

Stroke is a major cause of morbidity in developed countries and therefore finding adequate treatments to promote patient’s recovery is a priority task, requiring the elucidation of the molecular pathways influencing brain recovery. Few studies, however, have assessed the role of genes in stroke outcome. This study describes a pilot genome-wide association study (GWAS) to identify genetic factors contributing to patient’s outcome, using a DNA pooling design. Methods: Patient’s outcome was assessed using the modified Rankin Scale (mRS) three months after stroke. Using the 250K Affymetrix GeneChip Mapping Assay® – Nsp I, we compared SNP allele frequencies in a pool of non-disabled stroke patients (N=87, mRS=0), with a pool of severely disabled or deceased patients (N=100, mRS>=3). The 100 most interesting SNPs were selected for validation by individual genotyping. Results: 36 SNPs were validated, showing significant differences between patients with extremely good and extremely poor outcome at three months (1.7x10-4 ).This work was supported by the grant PTDC/SAU-GMG/64426/2006, Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT). Helena Manso and Tiago Krug were supported by FCT fellowships

Avaliação do tecido adiposo subcutâneo e visceral abdominal por tomografia computorizada e antropometria e a sua relação com a Síndrome Metabólica

[resumo][abstract

Exposure to Leishmania braziliensis triggers neutrophil activation and apoptosis.

BACKGROUND: Neutrophils are the first line of defense against invading pathogens and are rapidly recruited to the sites of Leishmania inoculation. During Leishmania braziliensis infection, depletion of inflammatory cells significantly increases the parasite load whereas co-inoculation of neutrophils plus L. braziliensis had an opposite effect. Moreover, the co-culture of infected macrophages and neutrophils also induced parasite killing leading us to ask how neutrophils alone respond to an L. braziliensis exposure. Herein we focused on understanding the interaction between neutrophils and L. braziliensis, exploring cell activation and apoptotic fate. METHODS AND FINDINGS: Inoculation of serum-opsonized L. braziliensis promastigotes in mice induced neutrophil accumulation in vivo, peaking at 24 h. In vitro, exposure of thyoglycollate-elicited inflammatory or bone marrow neutrophils to L. braziliensis modulated the expression of surface molecules such as CD18 and CD62L, and induced the oxidative burst. Using mCherry-expressing L. braziliensis, we determined that such effects were mainly observed in infected and not in bystander cells. Neutrophil activation following contact with L. braziliensis was also confirmed by the release of TNF-α and neutrophil elastase. Lastly, neutrophils infected with L. braziliensis but not with L. major displayed markers of early apoptosis. CONCLUSIONS: We show that L. braziliensis induces neutrophil recruitment in vivo and that neutrophils exposed to the parasite in vitro respond through activation and release of inflammatory mediators. This outcome may impact on parasite elimination, particularly at the early stages of infection

D-braneworld cosmology

We discuss D-braneworld cosmology, that is, the brane is described by the Born-Infeld action. Compared with the usual Randall-Sundrum braneworld cosmology where the brane action is the Nambu-Goto one, we can see some drastic changes at the very early universe: (i)universe may experience the rapid accelerating phase (ii)the closed universe may avoid the initial singularity. We also briefly address the dynamics of the cosmology in the open string metric, which might be favorer than the induced metric from the view point of the D-brane.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, minor corrections, accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.

The holographic superconductors in higher-dimensional AdS soliton

We explore the behaviors of the holographic superconductors at zero temperature for a charged scalar field coupled to a Maxwell field in higher-dimensional AdS soliton spacetime via analytical way. In the probe limit, we obtain the critical chemical potentials increase linearly as a total dimension $d$ grows up. We find that the critical exponent for condensation operator is obtained as 1/2 independently of $d$, and the charge density is linearly related to the chemical potential near the critical point. Furthermore, we consider a slightly generalized setup the Einstein-Power-Maxwell field theory, and find that the critical exponent for condensation operator is given as $1/(4-2n)$ in terms of a power parameter $n$ of the Power-Maxwell field, and the charge density is proportional to the chemical potential to the power of $1/(2-n)$.Comment: LaTeX, 16 pages, 5 figures, typos corrected, one reference added, version to appear in European Physical Journal