On a poroviscoelastic model for cell crawling

In this paper a minimal, one–dimensional, two–phase, viscoelastic, reactive, flow model for a crawling cell is presented. Two–phase models are used with a variety of constitutive assumptions in the literature to model cell motility. We use an upper–convected Maxwell model and demonstrate that even the simplest of two–phase, viscoelastic models displays features relevant to cell motility. We also show care must be exercised in choosing parameters for such models as a poor choice can lead to an ill–posed problem. A stability analysis reveals that the initially stationary, spatially uniform strip of cytoplasm starts to crawl in response to a perturbation which breaks the symmetry of the network volume fraction or network stress. We also demonstrate numerically that there is a steady travelling–wave solution in which the crawling velocity has a bell–shaped dependence on adhesion strength, in agreement with biological observation

Strategies for Dealing with Low Adoption of Agricultural Innovations: A Case Study of Farmers in Udenu L.G.A of Enugu State, Nigeria

A study to access the level of acceptance/adoption of agricultural innovations by farmers in Udenu Local Government Area of Enugu State was carried out. The aim was to find out the reasons behind the low acceptance/adoption of agricultural innovations by farmers in the area and to suggest possible strategies to address this ugly situation; as a way to increase food production amongst farmers in the study area. Hundred farmers from 5 communities in the study area and 10 staff of 2 agricultural Research Institutes were randomly selected as the major population for this study. Three (3) Alternate Hypothesis set for this study were tested using Chi-square statistical tool at 0.05 probability level of significance and at 4 degrees of freedom; and only one was rejected. Structured questionnaire and scheduled interviews were used to collect data from farmers and staff of the Research Institutes.  Result from the study showed that services of extension agents in the rural areas are inadequate and ineffective. It was also found that extension agents are faced with many challenges in their efforts to introduce new agricultural innovations to farmers; most farmers were reluctant to adopt new agricultural innovations/technologies for various reasons. Increasing the ratio of extension agents to farmers, use of indigenous extension agents and local interpreters to disseminate new innovations and technologies, training of model farmers as change agents, use of demonstration method and subsidizing agricultural inputs were recommended as strategies for encouraging acceptance/adoption of agricultural innovations and technologies by rural farmers. Keywords: Agricultural Innovations, Extension Agents, Technologies, Adoption, Small-Scale farmers

Application of nonlinear methods to discriminate fractionated electrograms in paroxysmal versus persistent atrial fibrillation

Background and Objective: Complex fractionated atrial electrograms (CFAE) may contain information concerning the electrophysiological substrate of atrial fibrillation (AF); therefore they are of interest to guide catheter ablation treatment of AF. Electrogram signals are shaped by activation events, which are dynamical in nature. This makes it difficult to establish those signal properties that can provide insight into the ablation site location. Nonlinear measures may improve information. To test this hypothesis, we used nonlinear measures to analyze CFAE. Methods: CFAE from several atrial sites, recorded for a duration of 16 s, were acquired from 10 patients with persistent and 9 patients with paroxysmal AF. These signals were appraised using non-overlapping windows of 1-, 2- and 4-s durations. The resulting data sets were analyzed with Recurrence Plots (RP) and Recurrence Quantification Analysis (RQA). The data was also quantified via entropy measures. Results: RQA exhibited unique plots for persistent versus paroxysmal AF. Similar patterns were observed to be repeated throughout the RPs. Trends were consistent for signal segments of 1 and 2 s as well as 4 s in duration. This was suggestive that the underlying signal generation process is also repetitive, and that repetitiveness can be detected even in 1-s sequences. The results also showed that most entropy metrics exhibited higher measurement values (closer to equilibrium) for persistent AF data. It was also found that Determinism (DET), Trapping Time (TT), and Modified Multiscale Entropy (MMSE), extracted from signals that were acquired from locations at the posterior atrial free wall, are highly discriminative of persistent versus paroxysmal AF data. Conclusions: Short data sequences are sufficient to provide information to discern persistent versus paroxysmal AF data with a significant difference, and can be useful to detect repeating patterns of atrial activation

I.M.E. Arístides Maillol : informe de la revisió limitada del compte d’explotació a 31 de desembre de 2017

Sol·licitant de l'informe: Districte 4. Les Cort

Some Properties of the Computable Cross Norm Criterion for Separability

The computable cross norm (CCN) criterion is a new powerful analytical and computable separability criterion for bipartite quantum states, that is also known to systematically detect bound entanglement. In certain aspects this criterion complements the well-known Peres positive partial transpose (PPT) criterion. In the present paper we study important analytical properties of the CCN criterion. We show that in contrast to the PPT criterion it is not sufficient in dimension 2 x 2. In higher dimensions we prove theorems connecting the fidelity of a quantum state with the CCN criterion. We also analyze the behaviour of the CCN criterion under local operations and identify the operations that leave it invariant. It turns out that the CCN criterion is in general not invariant under local operations.Comment: 7 pages; accepted by Physical Review A; error in Appendix B correcte

Neutrino masses from operator mixing

We show that in theories that reduce, at the Fermi scale, to an extension of the standard model with two doublets, there can be additional dimension five operators giving rise to neutrino masses. In particular there exists a singlet operator which can not generate neutrino masses at tree level but generates them through operator mixing. Under the assumption that only this operator appears at tree level we calculate the neutrino mass matrix. It has the Zee mass matrix structure and leads naturally to bimaximal mixing. However, the maximal mixing prediction for solar neutrinos is very sharp even when higher order corrections are considered. To allow for deviations from maximal mixing a fine tuning is needed in the neutrino mass matrix parameters. However, this fine tuning relates the departure from maximal mixing in solar neutrino oscillations with the neutrinoless double beta decay rate.Comment: 11 pages, 1 figure, revte

Informe complementari específic, requerit per l’article 14 de l’Ordre ECO/172/2015/de 3 de juny, sobre les formes de justificació de subvencions, per tal de justificar la subvenció rebuda del Departament de Cultura de la Generalitat de Catalunya l’any 2022 per a finançar despeses corrents

Sol·licitant de l'informe: Consorci Mercat de les Flor

Experiment towards continuous-variable entanglement swapping: Highly correlated four-partite quantum state

We present a protocol for performing entanglement swapping with intense pulsed beams. In a first step, the generation of amplitude correlations between two systems that have never interacted directly is demonstrated. This is verified in direct detection with electronic modulation of the detected photocurrents. The measured correlations are better than expected from a classical reconstruction scheme. In the entanglement swapping process, a four--partite entangled state is generated. We prove experimentally that the amplitudes of the four optical modes are quantum correlated 3 dB below shot noise, which is due to the potential four--party entanglement.Comment: 9 pages, 10 figures, update of references 9 and 10; minor inconsistency in notation removed; format for units in the figures change

La recollida d'oli de cuina, analitzada

Què fer amb l'oli de cuina, com recollir-lo després de l'ús a les cuines domèstiques és un problema que encara no té una solució clara. Un estudi realitzat a l'ICTA i a Inèdit, spin off del Parc de Recerca de la UAB, ha utilitzat una metodologia quantitativa de l'Avaluació de la Sostenibilitat del Cicle de Vida (LCSA) per analitzar els diferents mètodes utilitzats fins ara per a la recollida d'oli de cuina usat: les deixalleries urbanes, el porta a porta i la recollida a les escoles. Aquest treball ha arribat a la conclusió que la utilització de les deixalleries urbanes, que recullen altres residus a més de l'oli, és el mètode més sostenible, encara que genera menys benefici social que d'altres sistemes de recollida. Els altres dos sistemes serien menys sostenibles però disposarien de més beneficis socials.Qué hacer con el aceite de cocina, cómo recogerlo después del uso en las cocinas domésticas es un problema que aún no tiene una solución clara. Un estudio realizado en el ICTA y en Inèdit, spin off del Parc de Recerca de la UAB, ha utilizado una metodología cuantitativa de la Evaluación de la Sostenibilidad del Ciclo de Vida (LCSA) para analizar los diferentes métodos utilizados hasta el momento para la recogida de aceite de cocina usado: los centros de recogida urbanos, el puerta a puerta y la recogida en las escuelas. Este trabajo ha llegado a la conclusión de que la utilización de los centros de recogida urbanos, que recogen otros residuos además del aceite, es el método más sostenible, aunque genera menos beneficio social que otros sistemas de recogida. Los otros dos sistemas serían menos sostenibles pero dispondrían de más beneficios sociales

Von Bezold assimilation effect reverses in stereoscopic conditions

Lightness contrast and lightness assimilation are opposite phenomena: in contrast, grey targets appear darker when bordering bright surfaces (inducers) rather than dark ones; in assimilation, the opposite occurs. The question is: which visual process favours the occurrence of one phenomenon over the other? Researchers provided three answers to this question. The first asserts that both phenomena are caused by peripheral processes; the second attributes their occurrence to central processes; and the third claims that contrast involves central processes, whilst assimilation involves peripheral ones. To test these hypotheses, an experiment on an IT system equipped with goggles for stereo vision was run. Observers were asked to evaluate the lightness of a grey target, and two variables were systematically manipulated: (i) the apparent distance of the inducers; and (ii) brightness of the inducers. The retinal stimulation was kept constant throughout, so that the peripheral processes remained the same. The results show that the lightness of the target depends on both variables. As the retinal stimulation was kept constant, we conclude that central mechanisms are involved in both lightness contrast and lightness assimilation