Reduction of Hydrogenated ZrO2 Nanoparticles by Water Desorption

Reduction of zirconia by water desorption from a hydrogenated surface is the topic of this study. The focus is on the role of nanostructuring the oxide reducibility measured by the cost of formation of oxygen vacancies by water desorption. We have performed density functional theory calculations using the Perdew-Burke-Ernzerhof + U approach and including dispersion forces on the adsorption, dissociation, diffusion of hydrogen on the ZrO2 (101) surface and on Zr16O32, Zr40O80, and Zr80O160 nanoparticles (NPs). The process involves the formation of a precursor state via diffusion of hydrogen on the surface of zirconia. The results show that O vacancy formation via H2O desorption is more convenient than via direct O-2 desorption. The formation of an OsH2 surface precursor state to water desorption is the ratedetermining step. This step is highly unfavorable on the ZrO2 (101) surface both thermodynamically and kinetically. On the contrary, on zirconia NPs, characterized by the presence of low coordinated ions, water desorption becomes accessible such that even at temperatures close to 450 K the reaction becomes exergonic. The study shows the role of nanostructuring on the chemical and electronic properties of an oxide

Searching for differential expression: a non-parametric approach

Microarray experiments are being widely used in medical and biological research. The main features of these studies are the large number of variables (genes) involved and the low number of replicates (arrays). It seems clear that the most appropriate models, when looking for detecting differences in gene expression are those that exploit the most useful information to compensate for the lack of replicates. On the other hand, the control of the error in the decision process plays an important role for the high number of simultaneous statistical tests (one for each gene), so that concepts such as the false discovery rate (FDR) take a special importance. One of the alternatives for the analysis of the data in these experiments is based on the calculation of statistics derived from modifications of the classical methods used in this type of problems (moderated-t, B-statistic). Nonparametric techniques have been also proposed [B. Efron, R. Tibshirani, J.D. Storey, andV. Tusher, Empirical Bayes analysis of a microarray experiment, J. Amer. Stat. Assoc. 96 (2001), pp. 1151 1160; W. Pan, J. Lin, and C.T. Le, A mixture model approach to detecting differentially expressed genes with microarray data, Funct. Integr. Genomics 3 (2003), pp. 117 124], allowing the analysis without assuming any prior condition about the distribution of the data, which make them especially suitable in such situations. This paper presents a new method to detect differentially expressed genes based on non-parametric density estimation by a class of functions that allow us to define a distance between individuals in the sample (characterized by the coordinates of the individual (gene) in the dual space tangent to the manifold of parameters) [A. Miñarro and J.M. Oller, Some remarks on the individuals-score distance and its applications to statistical inference, Qüestiió, 16 (1992), pp. 43 57]. From these distances, we designed the test to determine the rejection region based on the control of FDR

The general factor of personality : history of an interdisciplinary venture

The General Factor of Personality (GFP) is a new psychological approach of the study of the human personality that is based on the idea that, as in the case of General Intelligence, there is a personality super-factor that agglutinates and represents all the other aspects of personality. Therefore, it can be considered as a system of personality subsystems, or a global and integrated system of all the different components from the personality

A genetic algorithm to calibrate dynamical systems : Confidence intervals for parameters and residuals

This paper presents a genetic algorithm to calibrate dynamical systems that is able to calculate confidence intervals for the parameters of the system. As an application case is used to calibrate the system that reproduces the dynamical response of the General Factor of Personality (GFP) to a given stimulus, particularly to a stimulant drug dose. The model is called in Literature as the response model and includes an integro-differential equation. The presented application case is a single case ABC experimental design where the stimulus is methylphenidate

Learning to be a psychostimulants addict with self-regulation therapy

This article presents the results of a single-case experiment of alternative treatments in which a participant applied the Self-Regulation Therapy (SRT) to reproduce the effects of a stimulant drug, methylphenidate, and a sedative, alcohol. The SRT is a learning procedure based on classic conditioning and suggestion that reproduces the effect of drugs by remembering the effects they have. The participant reproduced the effects of both drugs during ten sessions held on 5 consecutive days. To record effects, adjective scales were used that measured Drug effect, High, Rush, Energy, Tension and the General Factor of Personality (GFP). The results indicated that the participant was capable of independently reproducing the effects of both the above-cited drugs, and that most of these effects were graphically represented as an inverted U-shape. This inverted U can be interpreted as a process in which effects of drugs become progressively more marked (sensitization) to become progressively less marked (tolerance). In this way, the inverted U represents the equivalent to a complete process of becoming addicted to a drug. The participant ?learnt to be an addict? without using drugs. The theoretical implications and therapeutic potential of this procedure are discussed

Advances in the general factor of personality dynamics

This paper presents a dynamical integro-differential equation to reproduce the dynamical response of the General Factor of Personality (GFP) to a stimulus dose, particularly to a stimulant drug dose. The model is called in the past authors publications as response model. We refer to it as the old response model, due to a new response model presented here that solves partially the problem of the model validation: how to forecast the GFP dynamical response from a previous model calibration. The application case presented is an individual ABC experimental design where the stimulus used is methylphenidate.     

Cross-cultural adaptation and validation of the Spanish version of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons-Foot and Ankle Module (AAOS-FAMsp)

Background The current study performed a cross-cultural adaptation to Spanish and examined the internal and external validation of the AAOS-FAM questionnaire. Methods A direct translation (English to Spanish) and a reverse translation (Spanish to English) were performed by two independent professional native translators. Cronbach’s α coefficients were calculated to analyse the internal consistency of the measure. The factor structure and construct validity were analysed after extraction by maximum likelihood (EML); extraction was necessary if the following three requirements were met: accounting for ≥10 % of variance, Eigenvalue >1.0 and a scree plot inflexion point. The standard error of measurement and minimal detectable change 90 (MDC90) were calculated. Criterion validity was calculated by analysing the correlation between the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons-Foot and Ankle Module (Spanish version) (AAOS-FAMsp) and Spanish versions of the questionnaires FFI and FHSQ. Results Regarding internal consistency, Cronbach’s α was 0.877, and in the test-retest analysis, the ICC ranged between 0.899 and 0.942. Error measures were calculated by MDC90 and SEM, which showed values of 3.444 and 1.476 %, respectively. The analysis demonstrated a goodness of fit chi-squared value of 803.166 (p p r = 0.206 (p r = 0.665 (p Conclusions The results indicate that AAOS-FAMsp has satisfactory psychometric properties, facilitating the inclusion of Spanish-speaking individuals into both research and clinical practice

Functional analysis of cancer-associated EGFR mutants using a cellular assay with YFP-tagged EGFR intracellular domain

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The presence of EGFR kinase domain mutations in a subset of NSCLC patients correlates with the response to treatment with the EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors gefitinib and erlotinib. Although most EGFR mutations detected are short deletions in exon 19 or the L858R point mutation in exon 21, more than 75 different EGFR kinase domain residues have been reported to be altered in NSCLC patients. The phenotypical consequences of different EGFR mutations may vary dramatically, but the majority of uncommon EGFR mutations have never been functionally evaluated.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We demonstrate that the relative kinase activity and erlotinib sensitivity of different EGFR mutants can be readily evaluated using transfection of an YFP-tagged fragment of the EGFR intracellular domain (YFP-EGFR-ICD), followed by immunofluorescence microscopy analysis. Using this assay, we show that the exon 20 insertions Ins770SVD and Ins774HV confer increased kinase activity, but no erlotinib sensitivity. We also show that, in contrast to the common L858R mutation, the uncommon exon 21 point mutations P848L and A859T appear to behave like functionally silent polymorphisms.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The ability to rapidly obtain functional information on EGFR variants of unknown relevance using the YFP-EGFR-ICD assay might prove important in the future for the management of NSCLC patients bearing uncommon EGFR mutations. In addition, our assay may be used to determine the response of resistant EGFR mutants to novel second-generation TKIs.</p

A stochastic dynamical social model involving a human happiness index

This paper presents a new human happiness index built through five dimensions: development, freedom, solidarity, justice and peace. These five dimensions are evaluated through quantitative variables obtained from the Human Development Reports, World Data Bank and Eurostat. The new happiness index has been built following the guidelines set by the Human Development Reports of the UN for the construction of quality indices, and it has been compared on a set of 13 EU countries with the Overall Life Satisfaction Index, which is used by the UN. Moreover, the new index has been included in a dynamic mathematical model through the demographic rates to study the evolution of the population. The obtained model has been calibrated for the period 2004-2009 and validated for the period 2010-2015 for the case of Spain. Finally, the model has been used to maximize the happiness index in Spain for the period 2016-2030, with the conclusion that to achieve this purpose, it is necessary to invest in education, research and development