Null controllability from the exterior of a one-dimensional nonlocal heat equation

We consider the null controllability problem from the exterior for the one dimensional heat equation on the interval $(0,1)$ associated with the fractional Laplace operator $(-\partial_x^2)^s$, where $0<s<1$. We show that there is a control function which is localized in a non-empty open set $\mathcal{O}\subset \left(\mathbb{R}\setminus(0,1)\right)$, that is, at the exterior of the interval $(0,1)$, such that the system is null controllable at any time $T>0$ if and only if $\frac 12<s<1$.Comment: arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1810.08060 and arXiv:1707.06769 by other author

Exponential Turnpike property for fractional parabolic equations with non-zero exterior data

We consider averages convergence as the time-horizon goes to infinity of optimal solutions of time-dependent optimal control problems to optimal solutions of the corresponding stationary optimal control problems. Control problems play a key role in engineering, economics and sciences. To be more precise, in climate sciences, often times, relevant problems are formulated in long time scales, so that, the problem of possible asymptotic behaviors when the time-horizon goes to infinity becomes natural. Assuming that the controlled dynamics under consideration are stabilizable towards a stationary solution, the following natural question arises: Do time averages of optimal controls and trajectories converge to the stationary optimal controls and states as the time-horizon goes to infinity? This question is very closely related to the so-called turnpike property that shows that, often times, the optimal trajectory joining two points that are far apart, consists in, departing from the point of origin, rapidly getting close to the steady-state (the turnpike) to stay there most of the time, to quit it only very close to the final destination and time. In the present paper we deal with heat equations with non-zero exterior conditions (Dirichlet and nonlocal Robin) associated with the fractional Laplace operator $(-\Delta)^s$ ($0<s<1$). We prove the turnpike property for the nonlocal Robin optimal control problem and the exponential turnpike property for both Dirichlet and nonlocal Robin optimal control problems

Betriebsgründungen und attraktive Arbeit im Handwerk: Projektbericht zum Forschungsvorhaben der Enquetekommission VI des nordrhein-westfälischen Landtags

[Vorbemerkung] Der nordrhein‐westfälische Landtag hat eine Enquete‐Kommission gebildet, die sich unter der Überschrift „Zukunft von Handwerk und Mittelstand in NRW“ mit den Chancen und Risiken der Digitalisierung für das Handwerk befasst. Durch die vertiefte Beschäftigung mit dem Wirtschaftsbereich Handwerk wollen sich die Abgeordneten Informationen darüber verschaffen, in welchen Bereichen es politischen Handlungsbedarf gibt und welche Maßnahmen ggf. ergriffen werden sollten, um das Handwerk zu fördern bzw. bei der Bewältigung der Herausforderungen im Strukturwandel zu unterstützen. Dies gilt insbesondere unter dem Blickwinkel, dass das mittelständische Handwerk einen bedeutenden Beitrag zur Beschäftigung und zur Berufsausbildung leistet. Die Enquete‐Kommission kann zu speziellen Fragen externen Sachverstand einbeziehen und Gutachtenaufträge erteilen. In diesem Zusammenhang wurde das Rheinisch‐Westfälische Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung Essen (RWI) mit Vertrag vom 30.03.2016 gemeinsam mit der PCG Project Consult GmbH Essen beauftragt, ein Gutachten zu den Themen „Gründungskultur verbessern und Übergaben gestalten“ sowie „Attraktive Arbeit im Handwerk“ zu erstellen. Grundlage hierfür ist die Ausschreibung vom 25.01.2016, in der zu den genannten Themen Fragen formuliert sowie die Eckpunkte (Zeitrahmen, Volumen, u.ä.) benannt sind. Aus den Ergebnissen der Studie sollen Handlungsempfehlungen für die Handwerks‐ und Mittelstandspolitik abgleitet werden. Die Auftragnehmer haben sich darauf verständigt, die Arbeit in zwei Blöcke (sogenannte Arbeitspakete) aufzuteilen. Das RWI hat dabei die ersten 4 Fragen zum Thema „Gründungskultur verbessern und Übergaben gestalten“ bearbeitet (Arbeitspaket 1) und PCG das Arbeitspaket 2 „Attraktive Arbeit im Handwerk“. Wir waren uns einig, dass die beiden Arbeitspakte im Endbericht nicht einfach unverbunden nebeneinander stehen sollen, sondern dass wir uns regelmäßig über den Stand der Arbeiten und die vertretenen Positionen austauschen und die Ergebnisse diskursiv erarbeiten. Somit werden auch die abgeleiteten Empfehlungen von den Autoren gemeinsam getragen. Federführend für das Gutachten war das Rheinisch‐Westfälische Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung Essen. Das Gutachten ist gemäß der Struktur der Ausschreibung aufgebaut. Der erste Teil dieses Gutachtens befasst sich mit dem Gründungsgeschehen in der Gesamtwirtschaft, den erkennbaren Trends und den Rahmenbedingungen für Gründungen. Angesichts der technologischen Entwicklung durch Digitalisierung verändern sich die Möglichkeiten für Unternehmensgründer, neue Marktfelder zu erschließen bzw. neue, kooperative Geschäftsmodelle zu entwickeln. Der Fokus in diesem Abschnitt wird also darauf gerichtet sein zu ergründen, ob sich die Voraussetzungen für Gründungen und Übergaben im Handwerk unter anderem durch die Digitalisierung verändert haben. Im zweiten Teil liegt der Fokus auf den Arbeitsbedingungen im Handwerk. Hier geht es unter anderem um Fragen der Diversität, der Entlohnung, der Gesundheit am Arbeitsplatz, um Vereinbarkeit von Beruf und Familie sowie betriebliche personalpolitische Strategien zur Verbesserung der Position des Handwerks im Wettbewerb um qualifizierte Fachkräfte. Angesichts des engen zeitlichen und finanziellen Auftragsvolumens sind die Möglichkeiten eigner, gründlicher Erhebungen zu den jeweiligen Fragenkomplexen begrenzt. Neben der Auswertung der vorliegenden Literatur haben wir daher Informationen persönlicher und telefonischer Expertengespräche genutzt, die wir in unserem Netzwerk durchgeführt haben

Evidence for Enhanced Interoceptive Accuracy in Professional Musicians

Interoception is defined as the perceptual activity involved in the processing of internal bodily signals. While the ability of internal perception is considered a relatively stable trait, recent data suggest that learning to integrate multisensory information can modulate it. Making music is a uniquely rich multisensory experience that has shown to alter motor, sensory, and multimodal representations in the brain of musicians. We hypothesize that musical training also heightens interoceptive accuracy comparable to other perceptual modalities. Thirteen professional singers, twelve string players, and thirteen matched non-musicians were examined using a well-established heartbeat discrimination paradigm complemented by self-reported dispositional traits. Results revealed that both groups of musicians displayed higher interoceptive accuracy than non-musicians, whereas no differences were found between singers and string-players. Regression analyses showed that accumulated musical practice explained about 49% variation in heartbeat perception accuracy in singers but not in string-players. Psychometric data yielded a number of psychologically plausible inter-correlations in musicians related to performance anxiety. However, dispositional traits were not a confounding factor on heartbeat discrimination accuracy. Together, these data provide first evidence indicating that professional musicians show enhanced interoceptive accuracy compared to non-musicians. We argue that musical training largely accounted for this effect

Fire-induced loss of the world's most biodiverse forests in Latin America

The quantitative signal for the association of fires and land cover change is strong and the impact of frequent fires is vast. Fire plays a dominant role in deforestation, particularly in the tropics, but the relative extent of transformations and influence of fire frequency on eventual forest loss remain unclear. Here, we analyze the frequency of fire and its influence on postfire forest trajectories between 2001 and 2018. We account for ~1.1% of Latin American forests burnt in 2002-2003 (8,465,850 ha). Although 40.1% of forests (3,393,250 ha) burned only once, by 2018, ~48% of the evergreen forests converted to other, primarily grass-dominated uses. While greater fire frequency yielded more transformation, our results reveal the staggering impact of even a single fire. Increasing fire frequency imposes greater risks of irreversible forest loss, transforming forests into ecosystems increasingly vulnerable to degradation. Reversing this trend is indispensable to both mitigate and adapt to climate change globally. As climate change transforms fire regimes across the region, key actions are needed to conserve Latin American forests

MANα1-2MAN decorated liposomes enhance the immunogenicity induced by a DNA vaccine against BoHV-1

New technologies in the field of vaccinology arise as a necessity for the treatment and control of many diseases. Whole virus inactivated vaccines and modified live virus ones used against Bovine Herpesvirus-1 (BoHV-1) infection have several disadvantages. Previous works on DNA vaccines against BoHV-1 have demonstrated the capability to induce humoral and cellular immune responses. Nevertheless, ‘naked’ DNA induces low immunogenic response. Thus, loading of antigen encoding DNA sequences in liposomal formulations targeting dendritic cell receptors could be a promising strategy to better activate these antigen-presenting cells (APC). In this work, a DNA-based vaccine encoding the truncated version of BoHV-1 glycoprotein D (pCIgD) was evaluated alone and encapsulated in a liposomal formulation containing LPS and decorated with MANα1-2MAN-PEG-DOPE (pCIgD-Man-L). The vaccinations were performed in mice and bovines. The results showed that the use of pCIgD-Man-L enhanced the immune response in both animal models. For humoral immunity, significant differences were achieved when total antibody titres and isotypes were assayed in sera. Regarding cellular immunity, a significant increase in the proliferative response against BoHV-1 was detected in animals vaccinated with pCIgD-Man-L when compared to the response induced in animals vaccinated with pCIgD. In addition, upregulation of CD40 molecules on the surface of bovine dendritic cells (DCs) was observed when cells were stimulated and activated with the vaccine formulations. When viral challenge was performed, bovines vaccinated with MANα1-2MAN-PEG-DOPE elicited better protection which was evidenced by a lower viral excretion. These results demonstrate that the dendritic cell targeting using MANα1-2MAN decorated liposomes can boost the immunogenicity resulting in a long-lasting immunity. Liposomes decorated with MANα1-2MAN-PEG-DOPE were tested for the first time as a DNA vaccine nanovehicle in cattle as a preventive treatment against BoHV-1. These results open new perspectives for the design of vaccines for the control of bovine rhinotracheitis.Fil: Kornuta, Claudia Alejandra. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro de Investigación En Ciencias Veterinarias y Agronómicas. Instituto de Virología E Innovaciones Tecnológicas. - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Pque. Centenario. Instituto de Virología E Innovaciones Tecnológicas; ArgentinaFil: Bidart, Juan Esteban. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro de Investigación En Ciencias Veterinarias y Agronómicas. Instituto de Virología E Innovaciones Tecnológicas. - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Pque. Centenario. Instituto de Virología E Innovaciones Tecnológicas; ArgentinaFil: Soria, Ivana. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro de Investigación En Ciencias Veterinarias y Agronómicas. Instituto de Virología E Innovaciones Tecnológicas. - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Pque. Centenario. Instituto de Virología E Innovaciones Tecnológicas; ArgentinaFil: Gammella, Mariela Vanesa. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro de Investigación En Ciencias Veterinarias y Agronómicas. Instituto de Virología E Innovaciones Tecnológicas. - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Pque. Centenario. Instituto de Virología E Innovaciones Tecnológicas; ArgentinaFil: Quattrocchi, Valeria. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro de Investigación En Ciencias Veterinarias y Agronómicas. Instituto de Virología E Innovaciones Tecnológicas. - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Pque. Centenario. Instituto de Virología E Innovaciones Tecnológicas; ArgentinaFil: Pappalardo, Juan Sebastian. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro Regional Patagonia Norte. Estación Experimental Agropecuaria San Carlos de Bariloche. Instituto de Investigaciones Forestales y Agropecuarias Bariloche. - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Patagonia Norte. Instituto de Investigaciones Forestales y Agropecuarias Bariloche; ArgentinaFil: Salmaso, Stefano. Università di Padova; ItaliaFil: Torchilin, Vladimir P. Northeastern University; Estados UnidosFil: Cheuquepán Valenzuela, Felipe Andrés. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro Regional Buenos Aires Sur. Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Balcarce; ArgentinaFil: Hecker, Yanina Paola. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro Regional Buenos Aires Sur. Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Balcarce; ArgentinaFil: Moore, Dadin Prando. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro Regional Buenos Aires Sur. Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Balcarce; ArgentinaFil: Zamorano, Patricia Ines. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro de Investigación En Ciencias Veterinarias y Agronómicas. Instituto de Virología E Innovaciones Tecnológicas. - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Pque. Centenario. Instituto de Virología E Innovaciones Tecnológicas; ArgentinaFil: Langellotti, Cecilia Ana. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro de Investigación En Ciencias Veterinarias y Agronómicas. Instituto de Virología E Innovaciones Tecnológicas. - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Pque. Centenario. Instituto de Virología E Innovaciones Tecnológicas; Argentin

2017 ESC Guidelines on the Diagnosis and Treatment of Peripheral Arterial Diseases, in collaboration with the European Society for Vascular Surgery (ESVS) : Document covering atherosclerotic disease of extracranial carotid and vertebral, mesenteric, renal, upper and lower extremity arteries

Endorsed by: the European Stroke Organization (ESO), The Task Force for the Diagnosis and Treatment of Peripheral Arterial Diseases of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) and of the European Society for Vascular Surgery (ESVS)Peer reviewe

Cardiac troponin T and NT-proBNP for detecting myocardial ischemia in suspected chronic coronary syndrome

BackgroundElevated N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptides (NT-proBNP) and cardiac troponin T (cTnT) are associated with poor outcome in patients with chronic coronary syndrome (CCS). The performance of these biomarkers in diagnosing ischemia, and their association with myocardial hypoperfusion and hypokinesis is unclear.MethodsPatients with suspected CCS (history of angina, estimated cardiovascular risk >15% or a positive stress test) were included in the prospective, multi-center DOPPLER-CIP study. Patients underwent Single Positron Emission Computed Tomography for assessment of ischemia and NT-proBNP and cTnT were measured in venous blood samples.ResultsWe included 430 patients (25% female) aged 64 ± 8 years. Reversible hypoperfusion and hypokinesis were present in 139 (32%) and 89 (21%), respectively. Concentrations of NT-proBNP and cTnT correlated moderately (rho = 0.50, p 90%.ConclusioncTnT and NT-proBNP are associated with irreversible and reversible ischemia in patients with suspected CCS, particularly hypokinesis. The diagnostic performance was comparable between the biomarkers, and very low concentrations may reliably rule out ischemia.</p

Amyloid-beta oligomerization is associated with the generation of a typical peptide fragment fingerprint

Amyloid-beta (A beta) peptide oligomerization plays a central role in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD), and A beta oligomers are collectively considered an appealing therapeutic target for the treatment of AD. However, the molecular mechanisms leading to the pathologic accumulation of oligomers are unclear, and the exact structural composition of oligomers is being debated. Using targeted and quantitative mass spectrometry, we reveal site-specific A beta autocleavage during the early phase of aggregation, producing a typical A beta fragment signature and that truncated A beta peptides can form stable oligomeric complexes with full-length A beta peptide. We show that the use of novel anti-A beta antibodies raised against these truncated A beta isoforms allows for monitoring and targeting the accumulation of truncated A beta. fragments. Antibody-enabled screening of transgenic models of AD as well as human postmortem brain tissue and cerebrospinal fluid revealed that aggregation-associated A beta cleavage is a highly relevant clinical feature of AD. (C) 2016 The Alzheimer's Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved