19,439 research outputs found
From car to bike. Marketing and dialogue as a driver of change
The Paris Climate Agreement has sent a key message to the international community regarding the need to increase efforts to move towards a low-carbon economy and help slow climate change, while underpinning global long-term economic growth and sustainable development. COP 21 recognizes the social, economic and environmental value of voluntary mitigation actions and their co-benefits for adaptation, health and sustainable development. In this framework, the PTP Cycle project, running from 2013 to 2016 and funded by the European Commission through the Intelligent Energy Europe program, introduces a non-market approach through voluntary participation in the adoption of sustainable transport modes such as cycling, based on marketing to potential customers through Personalized Travel Plans. The medium-sized city of Burgos (Spain) and the cities of Ljubljana, Riga, Antwerp and London
(boroughs of Haringey and Greenwich) developed a new policy instrument (Personalized Travel Plans) in order to increase bike patronage. Beyond potential savings of CO2, the results show that PTP as a form of Active Mobility Consultancy is a suitable instrument to influence modal shift to public transport, walking and cycling, and to address the challenges of climate change, while fostering sustainable transportation by changing mobility behaviour. These results, matching with the state-of-the-art of studies and pilot applications in other countries, allows deriving differentiated results for medium-size and large urban areas
Unitarity of the Leptonic Mixing Matrix
We determine the elements of the leptonic mixing matrix, without assuming
unitarity, combining data from neutrino oscillation experiments and weak
decays. To that end, we first develop a formalism for studying neutrino
oscillations in vacuum and matter when the leptonic mixing matrix is not
unitary. To be conservative, only three light neutrino species are considered,
whose propagation is generically affected by non-unitary effects. Precision
improvements within future facilities are discussed as well.Comment: Standard Model radiative corrections to the invisible Z width
included. Some numerical results modified at the percent level. Updated with
latest bounds on the rare tau decay. Physical conculsions unchange
Developing a Macroscopic Mechanistic Model for Low Molecular Weight Diffusion through Polymers in the Rubbery State
Raman microspectroscopy was used to determine the Fickian diffusivity of two families of low molecular weight molecules through amorphous polystyrene in the rubbery state. Different effects of the temperature on diffusivity for each of the families suggested that molecular mobility is controlled by both the volume and flexibility of the diffusing substance when the movement of polymer chains can generate stress induced deformation of molecules. The diffusing molecules were represented as Newtonian spring-bead systems, which allowed us to quantify their flexibility, in function of the vibration frequency of their bonds by reconstructing their theoretical spectra. Results showed that the use of molecular descriptors that take into account flexibility rather than the most stable conformation of the diffusing molecules may improve the description of the diffusion behavior caused by variations in shape and size of the free volumes of the polymeric matrix in the rubbery state
A Comprehensive Analysis of 5G Heterogeneous Cellular Systems operating over - Shadowed Fading Channels
Emerging cellular technologies such as those proposed for use in 5G
communications will accommodate a wide range of usage scenarios with diverse
link requirements. This will include the necessity to operate over a versatile
set of wireless channels ranging from indoor to outdoor, from line-of-sight
(LOS) to non-LOS, and from circularly symmetric scattering to environments
which promote the clustering of scattered multipath waves. Unfortunately, many
of the conventional fading models adopted in the literature to develop network
models lack the flexibility to account for such disparate signal propagation
mechanisms. To bridge the gap between theory and practical channels, we
consider - shadowed fading, which contains as special cases, the
majority of the linear fading models proposed in the open literature, including
Rayleigh, Rician, Nakagami-m, Nakagami-q, One-sided Gaussian, -,
-, and Rician shadowed to name but a few. In particular, we apply an
orthogonal expansion to represent the - shadowed fading
distribution as a simplified series expression. Then using the series
expressions with stochastic geometry, we propose an analytic framework to
evaluate the average of an arbitrary function of the SINR over -
shadowed fading channels. Using the proposed method, we evaluate the spectral
efficiency, moments of the SINR, bit error probability and outage probability
of a -tier HetNet with classes of BSs, differing in terms of the
transmit power, BS density, shadowing characteristics and small-scale fading.
Building upon these results, we provide important new insights into the network
performance of these emerging wireless applications while considering a diverse
range of fading conditions and link qualities
Insulin gene polymorphisms in type I diabetes, Addison's disease and the polyglandular autoimmune syndrome type II
Background: Polymorphisms within the insulin gene can influence insulin expression in the pancreas and especially in the thymus, where self-antigens are processed, shaping the T cell repertoire into selftolerance, a process that protects from Ăź-cell autoimmunity.
Methods: We investigated the role of the -2221Msp(C/T) and -23HphI(A/T) polymorphisms within the insulin gene in patients with a monoglandular autoimmune endocrine disease [patients with isolated type 1 diabetes (T1D, n = 317), Addison´s disease (AD, n = 107) or Hashimoto´s thyroiditis (HT, n = 61)], those with a polyglandular autoimmune syndrome type II (combination of T1D and/or AD with HT or GD, n = 62) as well as in healthy controls (HC, n = 275).
Results: T1D patients carried significantly more often the homozygous genotype "CC" -2221Msp(C/T) and "AA" -23HphI(A/T) polymorphisms than the HC (78.5% vs. 66.2%, p = 0.0027 and 75.4% vs. 52.4%, p = 3.7 Ă— 10-8, respectively). The distribution of insulin gene polymorphisms did not show significant differences between patients with AD, HT, or APS-II and HC.
Conclusion: We demonstrate that the allele "C" of the -2221Msp(C/T) and "A" -23HphI(A/T) insulin gene polymorphisms confer susceptibility to T1D but not to isolated AD, HT or as a part of the APS-II
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Measurable residual disease (MRD) dynamics in multiple myeloma and the influence of clonal diversity analyzed by artificial intelligence.
Minimal residual disease (MRD) assessment is a known surrogate marker for survival in multiple myeloma (MM). Here, we present a single institutions experience assessing MRD by NGS of Ig genes and the long-term impact of depth of response as well as clonal diversity on the clinical outcome of a large population of MM patients; 482 MM patients at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) diagnosed from 2008 to 2020 were analyzed retrospectively. MRD assessment was performed by NGS. PFS curves were plotted by the Kaplan-Meier method. In the newly diagnosed group, 119 of 304, achieved MRD negativity at the level of 10-6 at least once. These patients had a prolonged PFS versus patients who were persistently MRD positive at different levels (p > 0.0001). In the relapsed disease group, 64 of 178 achieved MRD negativity at 10-6, and PFS was prolonged versus patients who remained MRD positive (p = 0.03). Three categories of MRD dynamics were defined by artificial intelligence: (A) patients with ≥3 consistently MRD negative samples, (B) patients with continuously declining but detectable clones, and (C) patients with either increasing or a stable number of clones. Groups A and B had a more prolonged PFS than group C (p < 10-7). Patients who were MRD positive and had not yet relapsed had a higher clonal diversity than those patients who were MRD positive and had relapsed. MRD dynamics can accurately predict disease evolution and drive clinical decision-making. Clonal Diversity could complement MRD assessment in the prediction of outcomes in MM
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Effect of Build Parameters and Build Geometries on Residual Microstructures and Mechanical Properties of Ti-6Al-4V Components Built by Electron Beam Melting (EBM)
In this study, involving additive manufacturing (AM) using electron beam melting (EBM), we
have examined build defects which result from beam tripping, porosities (including unmelted or
unsintered zones) due to excursions from optimal build parameters (especially variations in melt
scan beam current and scan speed), and gas bubbles trapped in atomized Ti-6Al-4V starting
powder as well as recycled powder, and retained in the build. At optimized build conditions we
have also examined microstructure-mechanical property (hardness, tensile strength, and
elongation) variations for multiple rake building and multiple melt scans using optical
metallography and scanning and transmission electron microscopy (SEM and TEM). These
build variances cause cooling rate variances which promote α-phase growth and variations in
dislocation density, as well as α-to-α' (martensite) phase changes, all of which produce some
degree of mechanical property variations. These features (especially α-to-α' phase changes) are
notable on comparing solid builds in comparison with a variety of mesh arrays where strut
dimension and build-element complexities alter the cooling rates in a significant way. We
illustrate these microstructure variations with corresponding variations in microindentation
hardness measurements made directly on fine mesh (strut) structures. Finally, we have examined
Ti-6Al-4V powder chemistries and solid build chemistries which for single-pass melt scans at
optimized build conditions are shown to be relatively constant up to 40 cycles of powder reuse
with the exception of Al content which was reduced by 10 to 15% in solid builds at optimized
conditions. However, Al loss in solid builds approached 25% for multiple (2 and 3) melt scans,
while no changes in Ar gas-bubble density were observed with changes in α-phase (grain) width
which increased from 3 µm for a single melt scan to 4.5 and 6 µm for 2 and 3 melt scans,
respectively. Corresponding Rockwell C-scale (HRC) hardness varied from 37, 36, and 35,
respectively; with ultimate tensile strengths exceeding 1.2 GPa at elongations of 12% or higher
for this melt scan sequence.Mechanical Engineerin
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