Hydrodynamic profiles for an impurity in a open vibrated granular gas

The hydrodynamic state of an impurity immersed in a low density granular gas is analyzed. Explicit expressions for the temperature and density fields of the impurity in terms of the hydrodynamic fields of the gas are derived. It is shown that the ratio between the temperatures of the two components, measuring the departure from energy equipartition, only depends on the mechanical properties of the particles, being therefore constant in the bulk of the system. This ratio plays an important role in determining the density profile of the intruder and its position with respect to the gas, since it determines the sign of the pressure diffusion coefficient. The theoretical predictions are compared with molecular dynamics simulation results for the particular case of the steady state of an open vibrated granular system in absence of macroscopic fluxes, and a satisfactory agreement is found

Theoretical understanding of the increment of upon protonation of pyridine peripheral octupolar molecules: Toward nonlinear optical sensors

6 pages, 6 tables, 4 figures.In this article, we present a computational study of the nonlinear optical properties of pyridine-based octupolar molecules in their neutral and fully triprotonated states. The effect of the core substitution and the degree of conjugation with the periphery has been also established and confirms the possibility of fine-tuning the nonlinear optical response. Computations involving the time-dependent density-functional theory approach serve to further explore the existence of excited states with nonzero dipole moment. From these results, the origin of the high second-order nonlinear optical activity upon protonation is addressed.The present work was supported in part by the Dirección General de Enseñanza Superior DGES, MEC, Spain through research Project Nos. CTQ2006-14987-C02-01 and CTQ2005-01368. The authors are also indebted to Junta de Andalucía and Gobierno de Aragón Spain for funding their research groups FQM-0159 and E39. M.C.R.D. is grateful to the MEC/Fulbright for her Postdoctoral Fellowship at the Georgia Institute of Techology. J.C. is grateful to the MEC of Spain for an I3 professorship position of Chemistry at the University of Málaga and M.M.O. acknowledges the MEC for a personal grant.Peer reviewe

Ac magnetic susceptibility of a molecular magnet submonolayer directly patterned onto a microSQUID sensor

We report the controlled integration, via Dip Pen Nanolithography, of monolayer dots of ferritin-based CoO nanoparticles (12 Bohr magnetons) into the most sensitive areas of a microSQUID sensor. The nearly optimum flux coupling between these nanomagnets and the microSQUID improves the achievable sensitivity by a factor 100, enabling us to measure the linear susceptibility of the molecular array down to very low temperatures (13 mK). This method opens the possibility of applying ac susceptibility experiments to characterize two-dimensional arrays of single molecule magnets within a wide range of temperatures and frequencies.Comment: 4 pages 3 figure

Below Ground Benefits of Cactus \u3ci\u3eOpuntia stricta\u3c/i\u3e Under Rangeland Conditions in Laikipia, Kenya

Cactus Opuntia stricta primarily invades arid and semi-arid lands (ASALs), which form more than 80% of Kenya’s landmass. The ability of the plant to tolerate poor soils and accumulate biomass under low precipitation has resulted in studies into its potential use by pastoral communities for biofuel and livestock feed. However, few studies have assessed the below-ground benefits associated with cactus under rangeland conditions. In this study, we evaluated the root contributions of the invasives cactus Opuntia stricta under rangeland conditions in Laikipia, Kenya. The experiment was laid out in a randomized complete block design with ten (10) replicates, each measuring 30 × 30 m. Each block was further subdivided into three plots of 10 x 30m Three clusters were randomly selected from each plot for roots and soil samples starting from the center of the cluster (C) to the outside in a gradient of three radii, R1, R2 and R3. Data was collected for root (dry root biomass, % carbon and % nitrogen) and soil (pH, bulk density, % moisture and % nitrogen) characteristics. Significant differences in total root mass, root carbon, and root nitrogen were observed under varying cluster gradients. Root mass ranged from 4527.0 to 9242.0 kg/ha for the outermost radius (R3) and the cluster’s center, respectively. Similarly, except for the soil nitrogen, statistical differences were observed for soil bulk density, percent soil moisture and percent nitrogen along the different cluster gradients. The soil bulk density ranged from 1.2±0.02 (center) to 1.5±0.01 g cm3 (radius 2). Findings from this study demonstrate the important contribution of the invasive cactus species in sustaining the ecological functions of rangeland soils such as those found in Laikipia, Kenya

Energy Intake, Macronutrient Profile and Food Sources of Spanish Children Aged One to < 10 Years-Results from the EsNuPI Study

The present study aimed to assess energy intake, nutrient profile and food sources in Spanish children participating in the EsNuPI ("Estudio Nutricional en Poblacion Infantil Espanola") study. Plausibility of energy intake and adequacy of nutrient intakes to international recommendations were analyzed in a final sample of 1448 subjects (728 boys and 720 girls) and one group representative of the 1 to <10 years old urban Spanish children (reference sample (n = 707)) who consumed milk and one of the same age who consumed adapted milk over the last year (adapted milk consumers sample (n = 741)) were compared. Both groups completed data of a face-to-face and a telephone 24-h dietary recalls. Both the reference and the adapted milk consumers samples reported an adequate daily energy intake (1503 kcal/day and 1404 kcal/day); and a high contribution to total energy from protein (16.5% and 15.6%) and fat (36.5% and 35.9%). Also, a high percentage of children from both samples were below the lower limit of the recommendations for carbohydrates (47.8% and 39.3%). As the percentage of plausible energy reporters was high for both groups (84.7% and 83.5%, respectively), data for the whole sample were analyzed. Milk and dairy, cereals, meat and derived products, fats and oils, bakery and pastry, fruits and vegetables contributed to about 80% of the total energy intake in both groups. However, the reference sample reported significantly more contribution to energy from cereals, meat and meat products, bakery and pastry and ready to cook/eat foods; meanwhile, the adapted milk consumers sample reported significantly more energy from milk and dairy products, fruits and eggs. Those results suggest that adapted milk consumers have better adherence to the food-based dietary guidelines. Further analyses are warranted to characterize food patterns and the quality of the diet in the EsNuPI study population

Quantum chemical DFT and spectroscopic UV-Vis-NIR analysis of a series of push-pull oligothiophenes end capped by amino-cyanovinyl groups

A series of push-pull chromophores built around thiophene-based -conjugating spacers and bearing various types of amino-donors and cyanovinyl-acceptors have been analyzed by means of UV-Vis- NIR spectroscopic measurements. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations have also been performed to help the assignment of the most relevant electronic features and to derive useful information about the molecular structure of these NLO-phores. The effects of the donor/acceptor substitution in the electronic and molecular properties of the -conjugated spacer have been addressed. The effectiveness of the intramolecular charge transfer (ICT) has also been tested as a function of the nature of the end groups (i.e., electron-donating or electron-withdrawing capabilities).Research at the University of Málaga was supported by the Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia (MEC) of Spain through project CTQ2006-14987-C02-01, and by the Junta de Andalucía for funding our FQM- 0159 scientific group. J.C. is grateful to the Ministerio de Ciencia y Tecnología of Spain for a Ramón y Cajal position of Chemistry at the University of Málaga. M.C.R.D. is also grateful to the Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia of Spain for a personal grant. The group at the University of Minho acknowledges the Foundation for Science and Technology (Portugal) for financial support through Centro de Química (UM) and through POCTI, FEDER (ref. POCTI/QUI/37816/2001). M. Manuela M. Raposo and A. Maurício C. Fonseca are also grateful to Professor G. Kirsch from University of Metz (France) for his collaboration

PM speciation and sources in Mexico during the MILAGRO-2006 Campaign

International audienceLevels of PM10, PM2.5 and PM1 and chemical speciation of PM10 and PM2.5 were measured during the MILAGRO campaign (1st to 31st March 2006, but extended in some cases until 6th April) at four urban, one suburban, two rural background and two rural sites, with different degree of industrial influence, in the Mexico City Metropolitan Area (MCMA) and adjacent regions. PM10 and PM2.5 daily levels varied between 50?56?g/m3 and 24?46?g/m3 at the urban sites, 22?35?g/m3 and 13?25?g/m3 at the rural sites, and 75?g/m3 and 31?g/m3 at the industrial hotspot, lower than those recorded at some Asian mega-cities and similar to those recorded at other Latin American cities. At the urban sites, hourly PM2.5 and PM1 concentrations showed a marked impact of road traffic emissions (at rush hours), with levels of coarse PM remaining elevated during daytime. At the suburban and rural sites different PM daily patterns were registered according to the influence of the pollution plume from MCMA, and also of local soil resuspension. The speciation studies showed that mineral matter accounted for 25?27% of bulk PM10 at the urban sites and a higher proportion (up to 43%) at the suburban and rural sites. This pattern is repeated in PM2.5, with 15% at urban and 28% at suburban and rural sites. Carbonaceous compounds accounted for a significant proportion at the urban and industrial sites (32?46% in PM10, and 51?55% in PM2.5), markedly reduced at the suburban and rural sites (16?23% in PM10, and 30% in PM2.5). The secondary inorganic aerosols accounted for 10?20% of bulk PM10 at urban, suburban, rural and industrial sites, with a higher proportion (40%) at the industrial background site. A relatively high proportion of nitrate in rural sites was present in the coarse fraction. Typically anthropogenic elements (As, Cr, Zn, Cu, Pb, Sn, Sb, Ba, among others) showed considerably high levels at the urban sites; however levels of particulate Hg and crustal trace elements (Rb, Ti, La, Sc, Ga) were generally higher at the suburban site. Principal component analysis identified three major common factors: crustal, regional background and road traffic. Moreover, some specific factors were obtained for each site

Fasciola hepatica induces eosinophil apoptosis in the migratory and biliary stages of infection in sheep

The aim of the present work was to evaluate the number of apoptotic eosinophils in the livers of sheep experimentally infected with Fasciola hepatica during the migratory and biliary stages of infection. Four groups (n = 5) of sheep were used; groups 1–3 were orally infected with 200 metacercariae (mc) and sacrificed at 8 and 28 days post-infection (dpi), and 17 weeks post-infection (wpi), respectively. Group 4 was used as an uninfected control. Apoptosis was detected using immunohistochemistry with a polyclonal antibody against anti-active caspase-3, and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Eosinophils were identified using the Hansel stain in serial sections for caspase-3, and by ultrastructural features using TEM. At 8 and 28 dpi, numerous caspase-3+ eosinophils were mainly found at the periphery of acute hepatic necrotic foci. The percentage of caspase -3+ apoptotic eosinophils in the periphery of necrotic foci was high (46.1–53.9) at 8 and 28 dpi, respectively, and decreased in granulomas found at 28 dpi (6%). Transmission electron microscopy confirmed the presence of apoptotic eosinophils in hepatic lesions at 8 and 28 dpi. At 17 wpi, apoptotic eosinophils were detected in the infiltrate surrounding some enlarged bile ducts containing adult flukes. This is the first report of apoptosis induced by F. hepatica in sheep and the first study reporting apoptosis in eosinophils in hepatic inflammatory infiltrates in vivo. The high number of apoptotic eosinophils in acute necrotic tracts during the migratory and biliary stages of infection suggests that eosinophil apoptosis may play a role in F. hepatica survival during different stages of infection.This work was supported by EU grants (FPVII-265862-PARAVAC, H2020-635408-PARAGONE) and the Spanish Ministry of Science grant AGL2009-08726. TEM studies were carried out by the Central Services for Research of the University of Córdoba (SCAI)Veterinari

Breast cancer PAM50 signature: Correlation and concordance between RNA-Seq and digital multiplexed gene expression technologies in a triple negative breast cancer series

Background: Full RNA-Seq is a fundamental research tool for whole transcriptome analysis. However, it is too costly and time consuming to be used in routine clinical practice. We evaluated the transcript quantification agreement between RNA-Seq and a digital multiplexed gene expression platform, and the subtype call after running the PAM50 assay in a series of breast cancer patients classified as triple negative by IHC/FISH. The goal of this study is to analyze the concordance between both expression platforms overall, and for calling PAM50 triple negative breast cancer intrinsic subtypes in particular. Results: The analyses were performed in paraffin-embedded tissues from 96 patients recruited in a multicenter, prospective, non-randomized neoadjuvant triple negative breast cancer trial (NCT01560663). Pre-treatment core biopsies were obtained following clinical practice guidelines and conserved as FFPE for further RNA extraction. PAM50 was performed on both digital multiplexed gene expression and RNA-Seq platforms. Subtype assignment was based on the nearest centroid classification following this procedure for both platforms and it was concordant on 96% of the cases (N = 96). In four cases, digital multiplexed gene expression analysis and RNA-Seq were discordant. The Spearman correlation to each of the centroids and the risk of recurrence were above 0.89 in both platforms while the agreement on Proliferation Score reached up to 0.97. In addition, 82% of the individual PAM50 genes showed a correlation coefficient > 0.80. Conclusions: In our analysis, the subtype calling in most of the samples was concordant in both platforms and the potential discordances had reduced clinical implications in terms of prognosis. If speed and cost are the main driving forces then the preferred technique is the digital multiplexed platform, while if whole genome patterns and subtype are the driving forces, then RNA-Seq is the preferred method

Apoptosis of peritoneal leucocytes during early stages of Fasciola hepatica infections in sheep

Several immunomodulatory properties have been described in Fasciola hepatica infections. Apoptosis has been shown to be an effective mechanism to avoid the immune response in helminth infections. The aim of the present work was to study apoptosis in peritoneal leucocytes of sheep experimentally infected with F. hepatica during the early stages of infection. Five groups (n = 5) of sheep were used. Groups 2–5 were orally infected with 200 metacercariae (mc) and sacrificed at 1, 3, 9 and 18 days post-infection (dpi), respectively. Group 1 was used as the uninfected control (UC). Apoptosis was detected using three different methods 1) immunocytochemistry (ICC) with a polyclonal antibody anti-active caspase-3; 2) an annexin V flow cytometry assay using the Annexin V-FITC/propidium iodide (PI); and 3) transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The differential leucocyte count revealed that the majority of peritoneal granulocytes were eosinophils, which increased significantly at 9 and 18 dpi with respect to the uninfected controls. The ICC study revealed that the percentage of caspase-3+ apoptotic peritoneal leucocytes increased significantly from 3 dpi onwards with respect to the uninfected controls. The flow cytometry annexin V assay detected a very significant (P < 0.001) increase of apoptotic peritoneal macrophages, lymphocytes and granulocytes, which remained higher than in the UC until 18 dpi. Transmission electron microscopy studies also confirmed the presence of apoptosis in peritoneal eosinophils at 18 dpi. This is the first report of apoptosis induced by F. hepatica in the peritoneal leucocytes of sheep in vivo. The results of this work suggest the importance of apoptosis induction for the survival of the juvenile parasites in the peritoneal migratory stages of infection.This work was supported by EU grants (H2020-635408-PARAGONE) and the Spanish Ministry of Science grant AGL2015-67023-C2-1-R. The TEM studies were carried out by the Central Research Services (SCAI) of the University of CórdobaAccepted manuscriptVeterinari