String attractors and combinatorics on words

The notion of string attractor has recently been introduced in [Prezza, 2017] and studied in [Kempa and Prezza, 2018] to provide a unifying framework for known dictionary-based compressors. A string attractor for a word w = w[1]w[2] · · · w[n] is a subset Γ of the positions 1, . . ., n, such that all distinct factors of w have an occurrence crossing at least one of the elements of Γ. While finding the smallest string attractor for a word is a NP-complete problem, it has been proved in [Kempa and Prezza, 2018] that dictionary compressors can be interpreted as algorithms approximating the smallest string attractor for a given word. In this paper we explore the notion of string attractor from a combinatorial point of view, by focusing on several families of finite words. The results presented in the paper suggest that the notion of string attractor can be used to define new tools to investigate combinatorial properties of the words

Thermal performance of planktonic ciliates differs between marine and freshwaters: A case study providing guidance for climate change studies

Predicting the performance of aquatic organisms in a future warmer climate depends critically on understanding how current temperature regimes affect the organisms’ growth rates. Using a meta-analysis for published experimental data, we calculated the activation energy (Ea) to parameterize the thermal sensitivity of marine and freshwater ciliates, major players in marine and freshwater food webs. We hypothesized that their growth rates increase with temperature but that ciliates dwelling in the immense, thermally stable ocean are closely adapted to their ambient temperature and have lower Ea than ciliates living in smaller, thermally more variable freshwater environments. The Ea was in the range known from other taxa but significantly lower for marine ciliates (0.390 ± 0.105 eV) than for freshwater ciliates (0.633 ± 0.060 eV), supporting our hypothesis. Accordingly, models aiming to predict the ciliate response to increasing water temperature should apply the environment-specific activation energies provided in this study

Analysis of Air and Soil Quality around Thermal Power Plants and Coal Mines of Singrauli Region, India

Singrauli region is known as the energy capital of India, as it generates nearly 21 GW of electricity, supplied to various parts of the northern India. Many coal-based Thermal Power Plants (TPPs) using coal from several nearby coal mines, and numerous industries are set up in this region which has made it as one of the highly polluted regions of India. In the present study, detailed temporal analysis and forecast of carbon dioxide (CO2), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), sulfur dioxide (SO2), and methane (CH4) concentrations retrieved from satellite data have been carried out for the periods 2005–2020. Based on the classical multiplicative model and using linear regression, the maximum concentration of CO2, NO2, SO2, and CH4 in the year 2025 is found to be 422.59 ppm, 29.28 ppm, 0.23 DU, and 1901.35 ppbv, respectively. Detailed analysis shows that carbon dioxide has a 95% correlation with all other trace gases. We have also carried out the geo-accumulation index for the presence of various contaminants in the soil of this region. The geo-accumulation index shows that soil in and around thermal power plants and coal mines is contaminated by heavy metals. The cumulative index shows that soil around Hindalco industries, Bina coal mines, Khadia coal mines, and coal-based TPPs (Anpara and Vindhayachal) are highly polluted and a threat to human population living in the region

Metastatic Group 3 Medulloblastoma in a Patient With Tuberous Sclerosis Complex: Case Description and Molecular Characterization of the Tumor

Medulloblastoma is the most common pediatric brain tumor. We describe a child with tuberous sclerosis complex that developed a Group 3, myc overexpressed, metastatic medulloblastoma (MB). Considering the high risk of treatment-induced malignancies, a tailored therapy, omitting radiation, was given. Based on the evidence of mammalian target of rapamycin mTORC, mTOR Complex; RAS, Rat sarcoma; RAF, rapidly accelerated fibrosarcoma (mTOR) pathway activation in the tumor, targeted therapy was applied resulting in complete remission of disease. Although the PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway plays a role in MB, we did not find TSC1/TSC2 (TSC, tuberous sclerosis complex) mutation in our patient. We speculate that a different pathway resulting in mTOR activation is the basis of both TSC and MB in this child; H&E, haematoxilin and eosin; Gd, gadolinium

Clinical characteristics and outcome of patients with autoimmune hemolytic anemia (AIHA) uniformly defined as primary by a diagnostic work-up

Primary autoimmune hemolytic anemia (P-AIHA) is a relatively uncommon and hetereogeneous disease characterized by the destruction of red blood cells due to anti-erythrocyte autoantibodies (AeAbs) in the absence of an associated disease [1–3]. Secondary AHIA is frequently associated with lymphoproliferative diseases (LD) in particular, chronic lymphocytic leukemia, aggressive or indolent lymphomas, autoimmune disorders, malignancies other than lymphoid, and infections [1,2,4]. On the hypothetical assumption that in a significant proportion of cases defined as P-AIHA the clinical heterogeneity could be due to an ignored associated disease, we retrospectively analyzed the clinical characteristics and outcome of patients with a diagnosis of P-AIHA based on a diagnostic work-up aimed at excluding or identifying an associated disease. ..

Dissociation rates of J/psi's with comoving mesons - thermal vs. nonequilibrium scenario

We study J/psi dissociation processes in hadronic environments. The validity of a thermal meson gas ansatz is tested by confronting it with an alternative, nonequilibrium scenario. Heavy ion collisions are simulated in the framework of the microscopic transport model UrQMD, taking into account the production of charmonium states through hard parton-parton interactions and subsequent rescattering with hadrons. The thermal gas and microscopic transport scenarios are shown to be very dissimilar. Estimates of J/psi survival probabilities based on thermal models of comover interactions in heavy ion collisions are therefore not reliable.Comment: 12 pages, 6 figure

Nanosensors for diagnosis with optical, electric and mechanical transducers

Nanosensors with high sensitivity utilize electrical, optical, and acoustic properties to improve the detection limits of analytes. The unique and exceptional properties of nanomaterials (large surface area to volume ratio, composition, charge, reactive sites, physical structure and potential) are exploited for sensing purposes. High-sensitivity in analyte recognition is achieved by preprocessing of samples, signal amplification and by applying different transduction approaches. In this review, types of signals produced and amplified by nanosensors (based on transducers) are presented, to sense exceptionally small concentrations of analytes present in a sample. The use of such nanosensors, sensitivity and selectivity can offer different advantages in biomedical applications like earlier detection of disease, toxins or biological threats and create significant improvements in clinical as well as environmental and industrial outcomes. The emerging discipline of nanotechnology at the boundary of life sciences and chemistry offers a wide range of prospects within a number of fields like fabrication and characterization of nanomaterials, supramolecular chemistry, targeted drug supply and early detection of disease related biomarkers