Molecular gas and a new young stellar cluster in the far outer Galaxy

We investigate the star-formation ocurring in the region towards IRAS07527-3446 in the molecular cloud [MAB97]250.63-3.63, in the far outer Galaxy. We report the discovery of a new young stellar cluster, and describe its properties and those of its parent molecular cloud. Near-infrared JHKS images were obtained with VLT/ISAAC, and millimetre line CO spectra were obtained with the SEST telescope. VLA archive date were also used. The cloud and cluster are located at a distance of 10.3 kpc and a Galactocentric distance of 15.4 kpc, in the far outer Galaxy. Morphologically, IRAS 07527-3446 appears as a young embedded cluster of a few hundred stars seen towards the position of the IRAS source, extending for about 2-4 pc and exhibiting sub-clustering. The cluster contains low and intermediate-mass young reddened stars, a large fraction having cleared the inner regions of their circumstellar discs responsible for (H-Ks) colour excess. The observations are compatible with a < 5 Myr cluster with variable spatial extinction of between Av = 5 and Av = 11. Decomposition of CO emission in clumps, reveals a clump clearly associated with the cluster position, of mass 3.3 x 10^3 M(solar). Estimates of the slopes of the Ks-band luminosity function and of the star-formation efficiency yield values similar to those seen in nearby star-formation sites. These findings reinforce previous results that the distant outer Galaxy continues to be active in the production of new and rich stellar clusters, with the physical conditions required for the formation of rich clusters continuing to be met in the very distant environment of the outer Galactic disc.Comment: 11 pages, 13 figure

Evolving Lorentzian wormholes supported by phantom matter with constant state parameters

In this paper we study the possibility of sustaining an evolving wormhole via exotic matter made out of phantom energy. We show that this exotic source can support the existence of evolving wormhole spacetimes. Explicitly, a family of evolving Lorentzian wormholes conformally related to another family of zero-tidal force static wormhole geometries is found in Einstein gravity. Contrary to the standard wormhole approach, where first a convenient geometry is fixed and then the matter distribution is derived, we follow the conventional approach for finding solutions in theoretical cosmology. We derive an analytical evolving wormhole geometry by supposing that the radial tension (which is negative to the radial pressure) and the pressure measured in the tangential directions have barotropic equations of state with constant state parameters. At spatial infinity this evolving wormhole, supported by this anisotropic matter, is asymptotically flat, and its slices $t=$ constant are spaces of constant curvature. During its evolution the shape of the wormhole expands with constant velocity, i.e without acceleration or deceleration, since the scale factor has strictly a linear evolution.Comment: 9 pages, 2 figures, Accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.

Determining the superconducting gap structure in Sr2RuO4 from sound attenuation studies below Tc

This work presents a quantitative theoretical study of the sound attenuation in the unconventional multiband superconductor Sr2RuO4 below the superconducting transition temperature Tc. Sound attenuation in this material is shown to have the remarkable property of being able to identify different nodal structures on different bands. The nodal structures on the \gamma band on the one hand, and on the \alpha and \beta bands on the other, are both found to be characterized by the existence of point nodes, but are significantly different in their quantitative aspects.Comment: 7 pages, REVTe

A nature-inspired protocol to generate mature hiPSC-derived hepatocytes: Unveiling the role of human intestinal microbiome

The production of hepatocytes derived from human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSC-HLC) holds great promise for multiple cell therapies and tissue engineering applications. Nonetheless, the current protocols to generate HLC in vitro are not yet successfully established resulting in low yields of mainly immature cells when compared to the adult counterparts. The major hurdle in recapitulating in vitro the physiological liver maturation process is due to its complexity as it takes approximately 2 years after birth and involves a wide range of biological events (1). Recent findings have been suggesting that liver maturation, that naturally occur during the early postnatal period, can be strongly associated with human intestinal microbiome (2). For example, lithocholic acid and vitamin K2, two intestinal postbiotics, were shown to induce the expression of CYP450 enzymes in HLC and fetal hepatocytes (3). Additionally, studies on germ-free animals reported dissimilar xenobiotic enzyme profiles (4) and an impaired liver regeneration (5) compared to wild type animals. Considering these evidences, we developed a nature-inspired bioprocess to produce relevant numbers of highly functional and mature HLC for application in regenerative medicine. In this study, hiPSC-HLC were generated as 3D cell aggregates in stirred-tank bioreactors according to the integrated bioprocess developed previously by our group (6), and matured with a novel strategy based on human intestinal microbiota’s secretome. The maturation profile of hiPSC-HLC was evaluated at transcriptional and functional levels, and the composition of microbial secretome formulation was also characterized by UPLC-MS/MS, GC-MS and LC–MS/MS technologies. Our results showed an efficient hiPSC differentiation into hepatic lineage with a production of 2.8x106 HLC/mL (~370 million cells in a 200mL ST-BR), displaying a mixture of adult (~80%ALB+ cells) and fetal traits (~30%AFP+ cells and CYP3A7+ cells). Noteworthy, HLC treated with bacterial secretome showed higher ALB expression (87%ALB+ cells), ALB and A1AT secretion, urea synthesis, and basal and inducible CYP3A4 metabolism, when compared to untreated HLC that were cultured in standard hepatocyte maintenance medium. Detailed analytical characterization of the microbial secretome revealed some of the potential biologically active molecules, such as bile acids, short-chain fatty acids and vitamins that could be responsible for HLC in vitro maturation. In conclusion, the protocol developed herein presents high technological relevance due to its efficiency, scalability, and reproducibility, but also unveils the potential role of human intestinal microbiome in hepatic cell maturation. Noteworthy, we also demonstrated that the 3D aggregates of mature hiPSC-HLC were able to adhere and migrate in human hepatic extracellular matrix scaffolds, while maintained their viability and functional features, showing to hold great promise to be used as cell therapy products or as cell ingredients for liver bioengineering applications. This work was funded by Projects EHD16PI02 from CIBERehd and LMP226_18 funded by DGA (Spain) as well as by Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT)-funded projects ERAdicatPH (E-Rare3/0002/2015) and iNOVA4Health Research Unit (LISBOA-01-0145-FEDER-007344). J.I. A. and P.V. were supported by FCT fellowships SFRH/BD/116780/2016 and SFRH/BD/145767/2019, respectively. [1] Chen C, Soto-Gutierrez A, Baptista PM, Spee B. Biotechnology Challenges to In Vitro Maturation of Hepatic Stem Cells. Gastroenterology. 2018;154(5):1258–72; [2] Almeida, Joana I., Miguel F. Tenreiro, Lucía Martinez-Santamaria, Aspizua, Sara Guerrero, Javier P. Gisbert, Paula M. Alves, Margarida Serra PMB. Hallmarks of the human intestinal microbiome on liver maturation and function. J Hepatol. 2021; [3] Avior Y, Levy G, Zimerman M, Kitsberg D, Schwartz R, Sadeh R, et al. Microbial-Derived Lithocholic Acid and Vitamin K2 Drive the Metabolic Maturation of Pluripotent Stem Cells-Derived and Fetal Hepatocytes. Hepatology. 2015;62(1):265–78; [4] Selwyn FP, Cheng SL, Bammler TK, Prasad B, Vrana M, Klaassen C, et al. Developmental regulation of drug-processing genes in livers of germ-free mice. Toxicol Sci. 2015;147(1):84–103; [5] Cornell RP, Liljequist BL, Bartizal KF. Depressed liver regeneration after partial hepatectomy of germ‐free, athymic and lipopolysaccharide‐resistant mice. Hepatology. 1990;11(6):916–22; [6] Isidro, I., Vicente, P., Pais, D., Almeida, Joana I., Domingues, M., Abecasis, B., Mertinez-Turrillas, R., Rodriguez-Madoz, Juan R., Aspegren, A., Alves, Paula M., Serra M. On-line monitoring of hiPSC expansion and hepatic differentiation process in a 3D culture system by dielectric spectroscopy. Biotechnol Bioeng

The ABC method – proposed implementation in a structural steel industry

Nowadays there are a large variety of contributions in the area of costing systems describing a lot of different possibilities. The difficulty lies in choosing the best one for each company. As a matter of fact each company is different from another and it is necessary to “look inside” each one and understand very clearly how their costing structures function. Know where company’s costs lie is the best way to reduce them and to determine the correct price of the product. It is thus essential that the company may have a good costing system that will allow it to possess the highest level of information and will be a support to the decision making process. From among all the new approaches, this paper will analyze the costing system based on Activities (ABC). Its objective is to understand the application of ABC as a costing system and to classify implementation methodologies. The ABC costing system was implemented in Martifer Construções, a Portuguese industrial company that manufactures metallic structures, as an alternative method. Work took place within company production facilities and a check has been carried out of costing problem details and the company’s expenses system. The purpose of this study is to validate the ABC method in this company, to provide a tool to support work and to reach a conclusion about the real advantages and disadvantages of implementing this method. This study will help leaders and managers of the company to make decisions about implementation of the method, as well as helping to increase knowledge of the matter, providing a useful tool to the company

Using the fuzzy linguistic computing in the evaluation of the value creation in an innovative product

Although innovation usually involves the assumption of high risk levels, it assumes itself as a vital tool for growth, enhancing value creation representing a competitive advantage. The aim of this chapter is to propose a methodology to evaluate the potential for value creation in innovation of a new product, relatively to intangible and tangible assets. For intangible assets the proposed methodology combines a multiple criteria decision-making method with an adaptation of Tai and Chen (2009) model using 2-tuple fuzzy linguistic approach. This methodology was applied to the EToll product developed by the Portuguese company Brisa Innovation and Technology. It was concluded that the benefits that most contributed to value creation are the development and entrepreneurship of national companies and a better cooperation with suppliers and partners. The EToll also allowed a significant reduction in operating costs in the company. The originality of this study is based in the challenge for business managers to assess the real impact of new products based not only on financial reports, but also in terms of intangible assets and also, how to consider the more appropriate qualitative dimensions to evaluate the performance of intangible assets resulting from innovation.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Rocky shore marine flora of the Azores

“[…]. O principal objectivo deste livro é fornecer informação útil aos visitantes da zona das marés nos Açores e chamar a sua atenção para estas plantas muitas vezes ignoradas. Existem cerca de 400 espécies de macroalgas marinhas nos Açores. As maiores são fáceis de encontrar, mas muitas só são visíveis à lupa ou microscópio. Neste livro incluem-se descrições e ilustrações de 46 espécies (44 algas, 1 cianobactéria, 1 líquen) relativamente fáceis de encontrar e identificar. Os leitores são elucidados sobre a melhor forma de as encontrar, bem como sobre aspectos básicos da respectiva morfologia e valor natural e/ou comercial. Para os leitores interessados, são ainda sugeridas publicações mais especializadas sobre o assunto. O livro inclui um glossário com os termos técnicos utilizados nas descrições apresentadas.”ABSTRACT: “[…]. The aim of this booklet is to make some of this new information available to the interested visitor to the sea-shore, and to provide an introduction to these often overlooked plants. Not all the species that occur in the Azores (approximately 400) are considered here; many are small in size and seen only with the aid of a microscope, others may be larger but are inconspicuous forms difficult to recognise. We present a synopsis of the seaweed flora of the Azores through pictures and brief descriptions of 46 species (44 seaweeds, 1 cyanobacterium, 1 lichen) that can be found without too much difficulty. We also present some basic facts as to what seaweeds are and what they look like, where they grow, and their value to the natural world as well as to mankind. For those wanting more information some references to other publications are given.”Secretaria Regional do Ambiente e do Mar / Universidade dos Açores / Natural History Museum / CRUP - Conselho de Reitores das Universidades Portuguesas