Local ownership, co-ownership and capacity-building in aid projects : the findings of a comparative study

development projects;developing countries;development aid;ownership;Sweden;local level

Sentiment Recognition in Egocentric Photostreams

Lifelogging is a process of collecting rich source of information about daily life of people. In this paper, we introduce the problem of sentiment analysis in egocentric events focusing on the moments that compose the images recalling positive, neutral or negative feelings to the observer. We propose a method for the classification of the sentiments in egocentric pictures based on global and semantic image features extracted by Convolutional Neural Networks. We carried out experiments on an egocentric dataset, which we organized in 3 classes on the basis of the sentiment that is recalled to the user (positive, negative or neutral)

Yang-Yang thermodynamics on an atom chip

We investigate the behavior of a weakly interacting nearly one-dimensional (1D) trapped Bose gas at finite temperature. We perform in situ measurements of spatial density profiles and show that they are very well described by a model based on exact solutions obtained using the Yang-Yang thermodynamic formalism, in a regime where other, approximate theoretical approaches fail. We use Bose-gas focusing [Shvarchuck etal., Phys. Rev. Lett. 89, 270404 (2002)] to probe the axial momentum distribution of the gas, and find good agreement with the in situ results.Comment: extended introduction and conclusions, and minor changes throughout; accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. Let

Calceoneal Osteosarcoma: A case report

Osteosarcoma of the foot is not common. A case of osteosarcoma of the calcaneum is presented where a patient had a four months history of  progressive painful swelling of the right hind foot which was initially diagnosed as Madura foot (mycetoma). However after trying both medical and traditional remedies in his rural home town without any significant improvement he decided to go to hospital. Investigations showed that he had osteosarcoma of the right calcaneum. This case illustrates the importance of proper patient investigation

Box traps on an atom chip for one-dimensional quantum gases

We present the implementation of tailored trapping potentials for ultracold gases on an atom chip. We realize highly elongated traps with box-like confinement along the long, axial direction combined with conventional harmonic confinement along the two radial directions. The design, fabrication and characterization of the atom chip and the box traps is described. We load ultracold ($\lesssim1 \mu$K) clouds of $^{87}$Rb in a box trap, and demonstrate Bose-gas focusing as a means to characterize these atomic clouds in arbitrarily shaped potentials. Our results show that box-like axial potentials on atom chips are very promising for studies of one-dimensional quantum gases.Comment: 9 pages 4 figure

Mathematical modelling of intensified extraction for spent nuclear fuel reprocessing

Small scale extractors seem to be a promising intensified alternative to the conventional solvent extraction technologies, because of the well described hydrodynamics, enhanced mass transfer, and good phase separation at the end. One of the most interesting applications of intensified extractions is the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel. Operating in small channels can reduce the volumes of involved hazardous materials and the residence times, thus minimising the degradation of the solvent and its regeneration cost. Finally, nuclear criticality safety may be easily achieved. In this paper, the application of small channels on spent nuclear fuel reprocessing has been investigated. A mathematical model of a multi-component liquid-liquid extraction has been developed. The multi-component system consists of U, Pu, HNO 3 , HNO 2 , Zr, Ru, Tc, Np(IV), Np(V) and Np(VI), the organic solvent is a mixture of 30% (v/v) Tri-Butyl Phosphate (TBP) and a paraffinic diluent. A segmented flow pattern, with the aqueous phase dispersed in a continuous organic phase, has been assumed. Calculations for the estimation of mass transfer, redox reactions, pressure drop, nuclear criticality and TBP hydrolysis have been included in the model. To increase the flow rates, the number of small channels was increased (scale out) and a comb-like manifold was considered to ensure good flow distribution in each channel. The problem is formulated as a mixed integer nonlinear programming problem and is implemented in the General Algebraic Modeling System (GAMS). The results show that this alternative technology for liquid-liquid extraction offers advantages, especially in terms of solvent degradation and low holdup volume

Process intensification applied to spent nuclear fuel reprocessing: An alternative flowsheet using small channels

Commercial plants for spent nuclear fuel reprocessing rely on the Plutonium Uranium Extraction (PUREX) process, based on traditional liquid–liquid extraction technologies. In this paper, an alternative flowsheet for spent nuclear fuel reprocessing is proposed, based on small-scale extractors to overcome some of the issues related to the conventional technologies, such as solvent degradation, size and nuclear criticality control. The main goal of the process is to preclude the risk of nuclear proliferation, hence a mixed uranium/plutonium oxide is produced instead of pure plutonium. A superstructure optimisation based framework has been used to identify a process with several benefits over the conventional process. Novel flow configurations and organic solvent composition have been investigated. A large number of components and chemical reactions are included in the framework. The resulting model is a mixed integer nonlinear optimisation problem, implemented in the General Algebraic Modeling System (GAMS). The most promising flowsheet identified is more cost effective than the conventional one. Furthermore, advantages in terms of safety and separation efficiency have been achieved. It was found that increasing the inner diameter of the small channels up to 2.5 mm, as well as increasing the tributyl phosphate fraction in the organic solvent, are advantageous

Peptide redesign for inhibition of the complement system: Targeting age-related macular degeneration.

PurposeTo redesign a complement-inhibiting peptide with the potential to become a therapeutic for dry and wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD).MethodsWe present a new potent peptide (Peptide 2) of the compstatin family. The peptide is developed by rational design, based on a mechanistic binding hypothesis, and structural and physicochemical properties derived from molecular dynamics (MD) simulation. The inhibitory activity, efficacy, and solubility of Peptide 2 are evaluated using a hemolytic assay, a human RPE cell-based assay, and ultraviolet (UV) absorption properties, respectively, and compared to the respective properties of its parent peptide (Peptide 1).ResultsThe sequence of Peptide 2 contains an arginine-serine N-terminal extension (a characteristic of parent Peptide 1) and a novel 8-polyethylene glycol (PEG) block C-terminal extension. Peptide 2 has significantly improved aqueous solubility compared to Peptide 1 and comparable complement inhibitory activity. In addition, Peptide 2 is more efficacious in inhibiting complement activation in a cell-based model that mimics the pathobiology of dry AMD.ConclusionsWe have designed a new peptide analog of compstatin that combines N-terminal polar amino acid extensions and C-terminal PEGylation extensions. This peptide demonstrates significantly improved aqueous solubility and complement inhibitory efficacy, compared to the parent peptide. The new peptide overcomes the aggregation limitation for clinical translation of previous compstatin analogs and is a candidate to become a therapeutic for the treatment of AMD

The isodiametric problem with lattice-point constraints

In this paper, the isodiametric problem for centrally symmetric convex bodies in the Euclidean d-space R^d containing no interior non-zero point of a lattice L is studied. It is shown that the intersection of a suitable ball with the Dirichlet-Voronoi cell of 2L is extremal, i.e., it has minimum diameter among all bodies with the same volume. It is conjectured that these sets are the only extremal bodies, which is proved for all three dimensional and several prominent lattices.Comment: 12 pages, 4 figures, (v2) referee comments and suggestions incorporated, accepted in Monatshefte fuer Mathemati