1,540 research outputs found
Random Graph-Homomorphisms and Logarithmic Degree
A graph homomorphism between two graphs is a map from the vertex set of one
graph to the vertex set of the other graph, that maps edges to edges. In this
note we study the range of a uniformly chosen homomorphism from a graph G to
the infinite line Z. It is shown that if the maximal degree of G is
`sub-logarithmic', then the range of such a homomorphism is super-constant.
Furthermore, some examples are provided, suggesting that perhaps for graphs
with super-logarithmic degree, the range of a typical homomorphism is bounded.
In particular, a sharp transition is shown for a specific family of graphs
C_{n,k} (which is the tensor product of the n-cycle and a complete graph, with
self-loops, of size k). That is, given any function psi(n) tending to infinity,
the range of a typical homomorphism of C_{n,k} is super-constant for k = 2
log(n) - psi(n), and is 3 for k = 2 log(n) + psi(n)
Compost barn system and its influence on the environment, comfort and welfare of dairy cattle
Received: January 16th, 2023 ; Accepted: April 27th, 2023 ; Published: May 15th, 2023 ; Correspondence: [email protected] aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of the thermal environment on
behavioral and physiological parameters of crossbred cows of different productivity levels
confined in a compost barn system. For this, air temperature (Tdb) and relative humidity (RH)
data were measured using sensors/registers and wind speed (Vair) was recorded with the aid of
an anemometer. Subsequently, these data were used to calculate the Temperature and Humidity
Index (THI). Bedding material variables (pH and humidity) were also evaluated. The animals
were evaluated for physiological variables (respiratory rate – RR and surface temperature – ST),
scores (body condition, locomotion and dirt) and behavior. The analyses were carried out on two
groups of cows (Group 1: high production vs. Group 2: medium and low production). The average
pH of the bedding material was 8.5, within the recommended range. In the case of the
physiological responses of the cows, the respiratory rate (RR) of Group 1 indicated better
conditions of thermal comfort in the morning vs. the afternoon. The system was efficient in both
groups based on body condition score, indicating favorable conditions for the health of the
animals. Regarding the behavioral evaluation, Group 1 and 2 were statistically similar and had
the longest rumination times, in relation to the other evaluated behaviors. Regarding active
periods, medium production were the most active. Regarding idle time, low production spent
more time idle than the other animals
Analysing livestock network data for infectious disease control: an argument for routine data collection in emerging economies
Livestock movements are an important mechanism of infectious disease transmission. Where these are well recorded, network analysis tools have been used to successfully identify system properties, highlight vulnerabilities to transmission, and inform targeted surveillance and control. Here we highlight the main uses of network properties in understanding livestock disease epidemiology and discuss statistical approaches to infer network characteristics from biased or fragmented datasets. We use a ‘hurdle model’ approach that predicts (i) the probability of movement and (ii) the number of livestock moved to generate synthetic ‘complete’ networks of movements between administrative wards, exploiting routinely collected government movement permit data from northern Tanzania. We demonstrate that this model captures a significant amount of the observed variation. Combining the cattle movement network with a spatial between-ward contact layer, we create a multiplex, over which we simulated the spread of ‘fast’ (R0 = 3) and ‘slow’ (R0 = 1.5) pathogens, and assess the effects of random versus targeted disease control interventions (vaccination and movement ban). The targeted interventions substantially outperform those randomly implemented for both fast and slow pathogens. Our findings provide motivation to encourage routine collection and centralization of movement data to construct representative networks.
This article is part of the theme issue ‘Modelling infectious disease outbreaks in humans, animals and plants: epidemic forecasting and control’. This theme issue is linked with the earlier issue ‘Modelling infectious disease outbreaks in humans, animals and plants: approaches and important themes’
MCI a verosimile fenotipo FTD: un caso clinico ad esordio tardivo
Una paziente di 75 anni, giungeva in visita geriatrica nel settembre 2013, lamentando sintomatologia ansiosa ingravescente, perdita d\u2019interessi e paure per situazioni non conosciute, esordite dal 2011. In anamnesi si rilevavano una familiarit\ue0 per demenza (ad esordio tardivo) e un episodio di depressione reattiva alla morte del padre. Le scale di valutazione funzionale mostravano una completa preservazione dell\u2019autonomia (ADL 6/6, IADL 8/8), i test cognitivi di screening erano nella norma (MMSE 30/30, CDT 4/5), mentre si obiettivava una deflessione del tono dell'umore (GDS 14/30). Venivano effettuati: test neuropsicologici conclusivi per MCI non amnesico a dominio singolo dis-esecutivo, TC encefalo (lieve ampliamento dei corni frontali dei ventricoli laterali e lieve vasculopatia), RMN encefalo (iniziale atrofia corticale, lieve vasculopatia), PET cerebri (moderato ipometabolismo glucidico corticale bilaterale pre-frontale), genotipizzazione dell\u2019ApoE (e3/e3) e del gene C9ORF72 (assenza di ripetizioni), dosaggio della progranulina (nella norma). Si poneva diagnosi preliminare di MCI in sospetta FTD. La sintomatologia ansioso-depressiva della paziente, risultata resistente a numerose terapie (bromazepam, alprazolam, sertralina, escitalopram, levosulpiride), migliorava con l\u2019introduzione di paroxetina.
\ua0
La diagnosi clinica di MCI FTD \ue8 molto complessa, in quanto i sintomi d\u2019esordio sono spesso sovrapponibili a quelli riscontrati in varie patologie psichiatriche. I test neuropsicologici sono fondamentali per una diagnosi precoce, le prove che valutano le funzioni esecutive frontali e/o il linguaggio, possono essere infatti alterate sin dagli stadi precoci. La RMN encefalo permette di escludere patologie organiche che potrebbero essere la causa dei disturbi lamentati dai pazienti (es. tumori o esiti ischemici in sede frontale) e avvalora la diagnosi di FTD nel caso in cui si evidenzi un\u2019atrofia focale dei lobi frontali e/o temporali. Tuttavia, negli stadi iniziali della malattia tale reperto non \ue8 sempre rilevabile, pertanto per supportare la diagnosi si utilizza la PET che pu\uf2 evidenziare un ipometabolismo glucidico in sede fronto-temporale anche quando il parenchima cerebrale \ue8 ancora volumetricamente integro. Ad oggi non esiste un trattamento farmacologico in grado di impedire o di rallentare la progressione di questa patologia neurodegenerativa. La terapia \ue8 pertanto volta al controllo dei disturbi comportamentali e si avvale principalmente degli inibitori selettivi del reuptake della serotonina (SSRI), in quanto nella FTD vi \ue8 una riduzione della concentrazione di serotonina a livello dei circuiti frontali sottocorticali. La diagnosi precoce di FTD \ue8 di fondamentale importanza perch\ue9 consente un approccio terapeutico in grado di migliorare la qualit\ue0 di vita dei pazienti e dei familiari
Dramatic modulation of electron transfer in protein complexes by crosslinking
The transfer of electrons between proteins is an essential step in biological energy production. Two protein redox partners are often artificially crosslinked to investigate the poorly understood mechanism by which they interact. To better understand the effect of crosslinking on electron transfer rates, we have constructed dimers of azurin by crosslinking the monomers. The measured electron exchange rates, combined with crystal structures of the dimers, demonstrate that the length of the linker can have a dramatic effect on the structure of the dimer and the electron transfer rate. The presence of ordered water molecules in the protein protein interface may considerably influence the electronic coupling between redox centers.Macromolecular Biochemistr
Neutrino Masses, Mixing and New Physics Effects
We introduce a parametrization of the effects of radiative corrections from
new physics on the charged lepton and neutrino mass matrices, studying how
several relevant quantities describing the pattern of neutrino masses and
mixing are affected by these corrections. We find that the ratio omega = sin
theta / tan theta_atm is remarkably stable, even when relatively large
corrections are added to the original mass matrices. It is also found that if
the lightest neutrino has a mass around 0.3 eV, the pattern of masses and
mixings is considerably more stable under perturbations than for a lighter or
heavier spectrum. We explore the consequences of perturbations on some flavor
relations given in the literature. In addition, for a quasi-degenerate neutrino
spectrum it is shown that: (i) starting from a bi-maximal mixing scenario, the
corrections to the mass matrices keep tan theta_atm very close to unity while
they can lower tan theta_sol to its measured value; (ii) beginning from a
scenario with a vanishing Dirac phase, corrections can induce a Dirac phase
large enough to yield CP violation observable in neutrino oscillations.Comment: 14 pages, 21 figures. Uses RevTeX4. Added several comments and
references. Final version to appear in PR
Measurement of Through-Going Particle Momentum By Means Of Multiple Scattering With The ICARUS T600 TPC
The ICARUS collaboration has demonstrated, following the operation of a 600
ton (T600) detector at shallow depth, that the technique based on liquid Argon
TPCs is now mature. The study of rare events, not contemplated in the Standard
Model, can greatly benefit from the use of this kind of detectors. In
particular, a deeper understanding of atmospheric neutrino properties will be
obtained thanks to the unprecedented quality of the data ICARUS provides.
However if we concentrate on the T600 performance, most of the
charged current sample will be partially contained, due to the reduced
dimensions of the detector. In this article, we address the problem of how well
we can determine the kinematics of events having partially contained tracks.
The analysis of a large sample of atmospheric muons collected during the T600
test run demonstrate that, in case the recorded track is at least one meter
long, the muon momentum can be reconstructed by an algorithm that measures the
Multiple Coulomb Scattering along the particle's path. Moreover, we show that
momentum resolution can be improved by a factor two using an algorithm based on
the Kalman Filtering technique
Comprehensive comparison of models for spectral energy distributions from 0.1�m to 1 mm of nearby star-forming galaxies
We have fit the far-ultraviolet (FUV) to sub-millimeter (850 μm) spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of the 61 galaxies from the Key Insights on Nearby Galaxies: A Far-Infrared Survey with Herschel (KINGFISH). The fitting has been performed using three models: the Code for Investigating GALaxy Evolution (CIGALE), the GRAphite-SILicate approach (GRASIL), and the Multiwavelength Analysis of Galaxy PHYSical properties (MAGPHYS). We have analyzed the results of the three codes in terms of the SED shapes, and by comparing the derived quantities with simple “recipes” for stellar mass (Mstar), star-formation rate (SFR), dust mass (Mdust), and monochromatic luminosities. Although the algorithms rely on different assumptions for star-formation history, dust attenuation and dust reprocessing, they all well approximate the observed SEDs and are in generally good agreement for the associated quantities. However, the three codes show very different behavior in the mid-infrared regime: in the 5–10 μm region dominated by PAH emission, and also between 25 and 70 μm where there are no observational constraints for the KINGFISH sample. We find that different algorithms give discordant SFR estimates for galaxies with low specific SFR, and that the standard recipes for calculating FUV absorption overestimate the extinction compared to the SED-fitting results. Results also suggest that assuming a “standard” constant stellar mass-to-light ratio overestimates Mstar relative to the SED fitting, and we provide new SED-based formulations for estimating Mstar from WISE W1 (3.4 μm) luminosities and colors. From a principal component analysis of Mstar, SFR, Mdust, and O/H, we reproduce previous scaling relations among Mstar, SFR, and O/H, and find that Mdust can be predicted to within ∼0.3 dex using only Mstar and SFR.SB, GLG, LKH, AR, and LS acknowledge funding by an Italian research grant, PRIN-INAF/2012, and SB, GLG,
LKH, LS, and SZ by the INAF PRIN-SKA 2017 program 1.05.01.88.04. MB
was supported by the FONDECYT regular project 1170618 and the MINEDUCUA projects codes ANT 1655 and ANT 1656. IDL gratefully acknowledges the
support of the Flemish Fund for Scientific Research (FWO-Vlaanderen). RN
acknowledges partial support by FONDECYT grant No. 3140436, and MR support by Spanish MEC Grant AYA-2014-53506-P. This research has made use
of the NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database (NED) which is operated by the Jet
Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under contract with
the National Aeronautics and Space Administratio
Pion emission from the T2K replica target: method, results and application
The T2K long-baseline neutrino oscillation experiment in Japan needs precise
predictions of the initial neutrino flux. The highest precision can be reached
based on detailed measurements of hadron emission from the same target as used
by T2K exposed to a proton beam of the same kinetic energy of 30 GeV. The
corresponding data were recorded in 2007-2010 by the NA61/SHINE experiment at
the CERN SPS using a replica of the T2K graphite target. In this paper details
of the experiment, data taking, data analysis method and results from the 2007
pilot run are presented. Furthermore, the application of the NA61/SHINE
measurements to the predictions of the T2K initial neutrino flux is described
and discussed.Comment: updated version as published by NIM
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