Vesicle dynamics in elongation flow: Wrinkling instability and bud formation

We present experimental results on the relaxation dynamics of vesicles subjected to a time-dependent elongation flow. We observed and characterized a new instability, which results in the formation of higher order modes of the vesicle shape (wrinkles), after a switch in the direction of the gradient of the velocity. This surprising generation of membrane wrinkles can be explained by the appearance of a negative surface tension during the vesicle deflation, due to compression in a sign-switching transient. Moreover, the formation of buds in the vesicle membrane has been observed in the vicinity of the dynamical transition point.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Forecasting elections in a multiparty system : the case of Portugal and Brazil

Mestrado Bolonha em Econometria Aplicada e PrevisãoThis work tries to forecast election results in Brazil and Portugal using two bayesian models and one frequentist in order to find out which one has better results. We will use older election‘s results and polls in order to check if there are sistematical biases towards certain parties. We also use macroeconomical data to check how influential this data is to forecast election. The analysis pointed out that there are no sistematical biases for any party in any polling company. We also found out that there is no significant relationship between macroeconomic data and the election results in these countries. Furthermore, the fact that both examples had few elections and have a lot of parties which are constantly being created and dismissed, there is not a "perfect" model, however, they all have very acceptable results.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Why the first laser worked as designed (and is still kicking today)

Theodore Maiman, the inventor of the laser, was both a physicist and an engineer. One can speculate that this combination of backgrounds was the main reason for the successful design, construction, and demonstration of the ruby laser in May 1960. The reasons for this success - as stated by Maiman in discussions with the present author - include some basic rules of elegant engineering design: understand what you want to make, understand the physics behind it, understand the nature of the materials to be used for fabrication, and finally, be a minimalist – simplify. Even now, the elegance and simplicity of the design of the first laser is evident upon viewing. The following text will try to gather and clarify all the components necessary for an invention such as the laser, classified by Nature magazine as one of twenty one most important inventions of twentieth century

Pensar desde la alteridad. Prácticas y discursos identitarios en el arte, la filosofía y las ciencias sociales.

El libro América Latina pensada desde Mendoza. Estudios sobre cultura, filosofía y arte, coordinado por Estela Fernández Nadal y María Forcada (Mendoza, EDIUNC, 2017) reúne ocho trabajos de diez investigadores mendocinos provenientes de diversos campos disciplinares: filosofía, sociología, artes visuales y música. Los artículos desarrollan temáticas muy distintas: la obra filosófica de Arturo Roig y Enrique Dussel, la raíz utópica de los movimientos populares latinoamericanos, la experiencia de mujeres bolivianas residentes en Mendoza, las prácticas artísticas en la lucha por la justicia y la verdad, la potencia política de las artes visuales, el análisis de obras musicales (una tonada mendocina y tres obras corales latinoamericanas). Esta diversidad de cuestiones está articulada por la reflexión en torno a la constitución de identidades y su vinculación con la historia y el poder, problemática que constituye una especie de dispositivo común para pensar en su complejidad las prácticas discursivas mediante las cuales sujetos histórica y socialmente situados construyen su relación con el mundo y con otros sujetos

Left ventricular false tendons: echocardiographic characteristics in the Polish population

Background: False tendon (FT) is described in a wide range (40% to 62%) of the examined hearts depending on age and additional heart abnormalities. On echocardiography, the range is even wider (1.6–78%), depending on study design and inclusion criteria. Ultrasonographic characteristics of left ventricular FTs in the Polish population are not well known. Materials and methods: Echocardiographic examinations of 1,679 consecutive patients were evaluated. All cases were classified according to American Society of Echocardiography Committee of Nomenclature and Standards Document on Identification of the Segments of the Heart Muscle. Results: In our study, fibrous structures in the lumen of the left ventricle were detected in 100 (6%) subjects of the study group. The age of the subjects ranged from 16 to 87 years (mean age 47.9), 50 were males and 50 were females. In 94% of the subjects, FT was a single structure. No patient had clinically evident arrhythmia. Conclusions: In the Polish population, FT can be identified in all age groups, and the prevalence is similar to that reported in the literature

Data on the quality of life after cytoreductive surgery and hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy for peritoneal malignancies: does it concern patients with gastric cancer?

AbstractIntroduction.So far there are no reports devoted exclusively to the quality of life after cytoreductive surgery and hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy in metastatic gastric cancer. Current literature concerning this issue was, thus, reviewed in order to: 1) search for such data concerning metastatic gastric cancer; 2) assess if the latest reviews evenly pertain to all peritoneal surface malignancies; and 3) conclude if they are a reliable source of data for patients with metastatic gastric cancer.Materials and Methods.The electronic PubMed/MEDLINE and EMBASE databases were retrieved for studies concerning the influence of cytoreductive surgery and hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy on quality of life in patients with metastatic gastric cancer and regardless of initial diagnosis. The data on the number of patients with particular tumours were analysed and the results were presented in the form of a table.Results.Approximately half of all patients encompassed by the reviews had a form of primary peritoneal surface malignancies. Within peritoneal metastases, the most numerous were colorectal (21-24%) and ovarian cancers (5-15%). Gastric cancers and sarcomas were the smallest defined subgroups (4% each).Conclusions.The promising outcomes in quality of life after cytoreductive surgery and hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy in primary peritoneal surface malignancies might differ from rarely reported ones in metastatic gastric cancer. The problem needs further, gastric cancer-devoted investigations

Membrane shape as a reporter for applied forces

Recent advances have enabled 3-dimensional reconstructions of biological structures in vivo, ranging in size and complexity from single proteins to multicellular structures. In particular, tomography and confocal microscopy have been exploited to capture detailed 3-dimensional conformations of membranes in cellular processes ranging from viral budding and organelle maintenance to phagocytosis. Despite the wealth of membrane structures available, there is as yet no generic, quantitative method for their interpretation. We propose that by modeling these observed biomembrane shapes as fluid lipid bilayers in mechanical equilibrium, the externally applied forces as well as the pressure, tension, and spontaneous curvature can be computed directly from the shape alone. To illustrate the potential power of this technique, we apply an axial force with optical tweezers to vesicles and explicitly demonstrate that the applied force is equal to the force computed from the membrane conformation