Long-term dynamics in physical activity behaviour across the transition to parenthood

Gaining a deeper understanding of the dynamic relationships between the transition to parenthood and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) amongst men and women in Australia

Formation and neutralization of electric charge and current of an ion thruster plume

A 3D hybrid model is introduced and applied to the simulation of the xenon plasma plume extraction, formation, and neutralization in a gridded ion thruster. The acceleration voltage is 1100 V and the inflow Xe+ per hole ranges from 0.07 to 0.92 μg s−1. While ions and neutrals are treated with a particle-in-cell formulation, electrons are modeled as two independent isothermal populations: one inside the discharge chamber and one in the plume. The definition of a thermalized potential allows to solve the electron currents in the high-conductivity limit of the Ohm's law. The space charge neutralization distance is observed to be short and thus essentially independent of the acceleration grid-neutralizer distance, which is varied from 10 to 25 mm axially. However, this position strongly affects the electric current neutralization paths in the near plume for each ion beamlet. Electron inertial forces are shown to be comparable to collisional forces in certain plasma regions. A semi-analytical 1D fluid model of the plume, matched to the hybrid model, allows to complete the far plume expansion down to infinity. Grids with an infinite and finite number of apertures are simulated and compared with each other and with the 1D model. The numerically obtained divergence angle of the ion plume is compared with experimental measurements, observing relative errors of around 7% in the position of the optimal perveance, and smaller than 4% in the divergence angle average value.This work has been supported by the ESPEOS project, funded by the Agencia Estatal de Investigación (Spanish National Research Agency), under Grant No. PID2019-108034RB-I00/AEI/10.13039/501100011033

On the associations between physical activity and quality of life: findings from an Australian nationally representative panel survey

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study is to provide a comprehensive analysis of the associations between the frequency of moderate or vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and quality of life (QoL) measures using longitudinal data and panel regression models on a large, representative sample of the Australian population

Black, Brown, and Powerful: Freedom Dreams in Unequal Cities

In April 2018, the Institute on Inequality and Democracy convened scholars, activists, policy advocates, community residents, and nonprofit workers to share and discuss research and action pertaining to processes of inequality in Los Angeles. We sought to shed light on the entangled structures of oppression, including urban displacement, housing precarity, racialized policing, criminal justice debt, forced labor, and the mass supervision and control of youth. Through keynote talks, group dialogue, and workshops, we analyzed how in Los Angeles, and elsewhere, black and brown communities face multiple forms of banishment and exploitation ranging from the criminalization of poverty to institutionalized theft.The question of racial banishment has been an important one for the Institute since its inauguration two years ago. This year though, amidst the troubled times of Trumpism, we wanted to shift our focus from banishment to freedom. In the reports that follow, you will find many examples of what Robin D.G. Kelley, a key presence at the Institute, has famously called “freedom dreams.” Located in, and thinking from South Central Los Angeles, the event’s participants provide insight into organizing frameworks and resistance strategies that challenge exclusion and refuse subordination. From tenant organizing to debtors’ unions, from underground scholars to educational reparations, visions of freedom abound. The Institute on Inequality and Democracy is convinced that university-based research can, and must, support such freedom dreams. Such partnership – between the public university and social justice movements – requires careful attention to the difficult task of decolonizing the university. This mandate is evident throughout this collection of reports. There is no easy alliance between academic power and banished communities; there is no obvious solidarity between urban plans and freedom dreams. This event was intended to be a step towards building such alliances, especially by reconstructing the curriculum and canon of knowledge

Educating for the future: How higher education in environmental management affects pro-environmental behaviour

This study analyses whether and how environmental education determines the adoption of pro-environmental behaviours. We conducted an experiment on 222 business administration students to examine this relationship from two theoretical approaches: instrumental and emancipatory perspectives. Structural equation modelling shows that environmental education in higher education affects pro-environmental behaviour, but only in an indirect way, i.e., through the knowledge–concern–willingness model. These results confirm the emancipatory perspective of higher environmental management education in detriment of instrumental counterpart. Thus, this research sheds light on the current theoretical debate around both perspectives and it offers important implications for both educators and policy makers in designing business educational programmes

Investigating the effects of operation variables on all-vanadium redox flow batteries through an advanced unit-cell model

Next-generation redox flow batteries will benefit from the progress of macroscopic continuum models that enable the optimization of new architectures without the need of expensive fabrication and experimentation. Despite previous attempts, there is still need for robust and thoroughly validated models. Here, a steady-state two-dimensional unit-cell model of an all-vanadium redox flow battery is presented. The model integrates state-of-the-art descriptions of the fundamental physical phenomena, along with new features such as local mass transfer coefficients for each active species, precise sulfuric acid dissociation kinetics, and experimental data of the electrochemical parameters and electrolyte properties. The model is validated at different states of charge and flow rates using polarization, conductivity and open circuit voltage measurements. Then, the contribution of operating conditions on battery performance is studied by analyzing its separate effect on the various phenomena that affect cell performance, such as local pore mass transfer limitations, parasitic hydrogen evolution reactions, crossover and self-discharge fluxes. The resulting model is a reliable tool that can be used to assess the relevance of these coupled phenomena that take place simultaneously within the reaction cell. This important information is critical to optimize cell components, reactor design and to select optimal operating conditions.This work has been partially funded by the Agencia Estatal de Investigación (PID2019-106740RB-I00 and RTC-2017-5955-3/AEI/10.13039/501100011033). Dr. García-Salaberri also acnowledges the support of the projects EIN2020-112247 (Spanish Agencia Estatal de Investigación). The authors want to acknowledge Maxime van der Heijden for her critical feedback

Aplicación de un algoritmo randomizado a un problema real de enrutamiento de vehículos heterogéneos

La problemática del enrutamiento de vehículos cobra cada vez más importancia en el plano empresarial y estatal. Esta área de estudio ha experimentado grandes avances teóricos, pero se ha mantenido a cierta distancia de la práctica. La mejora en las técnicas para obtener soluciones factibles y de calidad está permitiendo aplicar resultados teóricos en la resolución de escenarios reales. En este estudio, se presenta la resolución de un problema de enrutamiento de vehículos con una flota heterogénea utilizando un algoritmo que combina una heurística clásica con un factor aleatorio y una memoria temporal de las mejores rutas encontradas. El experimento se ha ejecutado con los datos de una empresa española de distribución con más de 370 tiendas en el noreste de España. Los resultados reflejan mejoras con respecto al plan de rutas concebido de forma manual por los expertos de la empresaPeer ReviewedPreprin

A clinically compatible drug-screening platform based on organotypic cultures identifies vulnerabilities to prevent and treat brain metastasis

We report a medium-throughput drug-screening platform (METPlatform) based on organotypic cultures that allows to evaluate inhibitors against metastases growing in situ. By applying this approach to the unmet clinical need of brain metastasis, we identified several vulnerabilities. Among them, a blood-brain barrier permeable HSP90 inhibitor showed high potency against mouse and human brain metastases at clinically relevant stages of the disease, including a novel model of local relapse after neurosurgery. Furthermore, in situ proteomic analysis applied to metastases treated with the chaperone inhibitor uncovered a novel molecular program in brain metastasis, which includes biomarkers of poor prognosis and actionable mechanisms of resistance. Our work validates METPlatform as a potent resource for metastasis research integrating drug-screening and unbiased omic approaches that is compatible with human samples. Thus, this clinically relevant strategy is aimed to personalize the management of metastatic disease in the brain and elsewhere.Acknowledgments: This work was supported by MINECO (SAF2017-89643-R, SAF2014-57243-R, SAF2015-62547-ERC) (M.V.), Fundacion FERO (IX FERO Grant for Research in Oncology) (M.V.), Fundacio La Marato de TV3 (141) (M.V.), Melanoma Research Alliance (Bristol-Myers Squibb-Melanoma Research Alliance Young Investigator Award 2017 (https://doi.org/10.48050/pc.gr.75716)) (M.V.), Beug Foundation (Prize for Metastasis Research 2017) (M.V.), Fundacion Ramon Areces (CIVP19S8163) (M.V.) and CIVP20S10662 (E.O.P.), Worldwide Cancer Research (19-0177) (M.V.), H2020-FETOPEN (828972) (M.V.), Cancer Research Institute (Clinic and Laboratory Integration Program CRI Award 2018 (54545)) (M.V.), AECC (Coordinated Translational Groups 2017 (GCTRA16015SEOA) (M.V.), LAB AECC 2019 (LABAE19002-VALI) (M.V.), ERC CoG (864759) (M.V.), Sophien-Stiftung zur Förderung der klinischen Krebsforschung (T.W.), Promedica Stiftung (T.W.), Stiftung f€ur angewandte Krebsforschung (T.W.), Forschungskredit of the University of Zurich (FK-18-054) (T.W.), Betty and David Koetser Foundation for Brain Research (T.W.), Foundation for Applied Cancer Research in Zurich (T.W., M.W.), Comunidad de Madrid (S2017/BMD-3867 RENIM-CM and Y2018/NMT-4949 NanoLiver-CM) and European structural and investment funds (M.D.), ISCIII (PT20/00044) co-funded by FEDER “A way of making Europe” (M.D.), Ministero dell’Istruzione, dell’Universita e della Ricerca-MIUR, “Dipartimenti di Eccellenza 2018-2022”, (D15D18000410001) (L.B. and P.C.), Science Foundation Ireland Frontiers for the Future Award (19/FFP/6443) (L.Y.), Science Foundation Ireland Strategic Partnership Programme, Precision Oncology Ireland (18/SPP/3522) (L.Y.), Breast Cancer Now Fellowship Award/ with the generous support of Walk the Walk (2019AugSF1310) (D.V.), La Caixa-Severo Ochoa International PhD Program Fellowship (LCF/BQ/SO16/52270014) (L.Z.), La Caixa International PhD Program Fellowship-Marie Sklodowska-Curie (LCF/BQ/DI17/11620028) (P.G-G), MINECO-Severo Ochoa PhD Fellowship (BES-2017-081995) (L.A-E.), AECC Postdoctoral Fellowship (POSTD19016PRIE) (N.P.), Boehringer Ingelheim Fonds MD fellowship (L.M.). The contribution of the Experimental Therapeutics Programme was supported by core funding from the Spanish National Cancer Research Center (CNIO). CNIO is supported by the ISCIII, the Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacion, and is a Severo Ochoa Center of Excellence (SEV-2015-0510). The CNIC is supported by the ISCIII, the Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacion and the Pro CNIC Foundation, and is a Severo Ochoa Center of Excellence (SEV-2015-0505). M.V. was named Ramon y Cajal Investigator (RYC-2013-13365) and is member of EMBO YIP (4053)

Long term outdoor operation of a tubular airlift pilot photobioreactor and a high rate algal pond as tertiary treatment of urban wastewater.

530 L high rate alga pond (HRAP) and 380 L airlift tubular photobioreactor (TPBR) were operated and compared in a urban wastewater treatment plant (WWTP), with the main purpose of removing nitrogen and phosphorous from the effluent of the WWTP while generating a valuable biomass. The photosynthetic activity in TPBR was during entire experiment higher than HRAP. The maximum areal productivity reached was 8.26 ± 1.43 and 21.76 ± 0.3 g SS m−2 d−1 for HRAP and TPBR respectively. Total nitrogen (TN) removal averaged 89.68 ± 3.12 and 65.12 ± 2.87% for TPBR and HRAP respectively, while for total phosphorus (TP) TPBR and HRAP averaged 86.71 ± 0.61 and 58.78 ± 1.17% respectively. The lipid content showed no significant differences (p < 0.05) between HRAP and TPBR averaging 20.80 ± 0.22 wt%. The main operating disadvantage of TPBR versus HRAP was the sever biofouling which forced to stop the experiment. Under the same conditions of operation TPBR was more limited at low temperatures than HRAP, and HRAP was more light limited than TPBR

A mutation in the POT1 gene is responsible for cardiac angiosarcoma in TP53-negative Li-Fraumeni-like families

Cardiac angiosarcoma (CAS) is a rare malignant tumour whose genetic basis is unknown. Here we show, by whole-exome sequencing of a TP53-negative Li-Fraumeni-like (LFL) family including CAS cases, that a missense variant (p.R117C) in POT1 (protection of telomeres 1) gene is responsible for CAS. The same gene alteration is found in two other LFL families with CAS, supporting the causal effect of the identified mutation. We extend the analysis to TP53-negative LFL families with no CAS and find the same mutation in a breast AS family. The mutation is recently found once in 121,324 studied alleles in ExAC server but it is not described in any other database or found in 1,520 Spanish controls. In silico structural analysis suggests how the mutation disrupts POT1 structure. Functional and in vitro studies demonstrate that carriers of the mutation show reduced telomere-bound POT1 levels, abnormally long telomeres and increased telomere fragility