Planck Low Frequency Instrument: Beam Patterns

The Low Frequency Instrument on board the ESA Planck satellite is coupled to the Planck 1.5 meter off-axis dual reflector telescope by an array of 27 corrugated feed horns operating at 30, 44, 70, and 100 GHz. We briefly present here a detailed study of the optical interface devoted to optimize the angular resolution (10 arcmin at 100 GHz as a goal) and at the same time to minimize all the systematics coming from the sidelobes of the radiation pattern. Through optical simulations, we provide shapes, locations on the sky, angular resolutions, and polarization properties of each beam.Comment: On behalf of the Planck collaboration. 3 pages, 1 figure. Article published in the Proceedings of the 2K1BC Experimental Cosmology at millimetre wavelength

Immunoadherence and complement in cancer-bearing mice.

Shortly after grafting of Ehrlich ascites carcinoma cells, the serum of tumour-bearing mice loses the capacity to mediate immunoadherence phenomena, because of a sharp decrease in the concentration of C3b and C3d, while the cellular receptors for such factors are unaffected by tumour growth. It is suggested that complement is consumed through the alternative pathway which is activated during the inflammatory responses accompanying tumour growth

Methodology of Construction of an Algorithm for the Systemic Learning of First Semester Students of the TICs Subject

Algorithms have become the primary source to start programming. Particularly, making an algorithm from a given problem and converting it into a program is of great importance for analysts, technologists, and computer engineers, that is why this article aims to give a clear idea of how to develop an algorithm for any given problem. The objective of this work was to develop a methodology that is not so complex and that allows our students to perform the algorithm, pseudo-code, flow diagram and finally be able to carry out the program. The tests carried out show that the methodology used gives good results, achieving a significant improvement in the learning of students in the first semester of industrial engineering.   Keywords: algorithms, flow diagrams, program, programming, software engineerin

The breakdown of the cytokine network subsequent to human immunodeficiency virus infection

The acquired immunodeflciency syndrome (AIDS) is a clinically multifaceted disease induced by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). HIV infection results in a complex pattern of immunologic alterations that leads to the development of AIDS in the majority of HIV seropositive (HIV+) individuals. The reduction in CD4 T lymphocyte counts is the hallmark of HIV infection; nevertheless, long before the reduction in CD4 counts reaches critical levels, a series of profound and complex defects that impair the function of CD4 T lymphocytes can be detected. Thus, HIV infection is characterized by quantitative and qualitative defects affecting CD4 T lymphocytes. It was suggested recently that programmed cell death (PCD) is an important mechanism leading to CD4 depletion in HIV infection, and that susceptibility of peripheral lymphocytes to PCD is differentially regulated by diverse cytokines. Thus, type 1 cytokines would protect CD4 lymphocytes against PCD, whereas type 2 cytokines would not protect against, and could augment, PCD. We suggest that the qualitative alterations of the immune response provoke the CD4 depletion characteristic of HIV disease via type 2 cytokinemediated augmentation of PCD, and are therefore ultimately responsible for the progression of HIV infection. Finally, we summarize recent data showing that three correlates of disease progression: emergence of HIV strains with syncitium-inducing ability (SI), type 1-to-type 2 cytokine shift, and CD4 depletion, are significantly associated, suggesting a complex interconnected virologic-immunologic pathogenesis of HIV infection

Women, Health and Aging: Building a Statewide Movement

Provides an overview of current policy and program environments that affect the state's most vulnerable elder population, and considers some effective strategies to address the growing needs of older persons in California

Efficiently Clustering Very Large Attributed Graphs

Attributed graphs model real networks by enriching their nodes with attributes accounting for properties. Several techniques have been proposed for partitioning these graphs into clusters that are homogeneous with respect to both semantic attributes and to the structure of the graph. However, time and space complexities of state of the art algorithms limit their scalability to medium-sized graphs. We propose SToC (for Semantic-Topological Clustering), a fast and scalable algorithm for partitioning large attributed graphs. The approach is robust, being compatible both with categorical and with quantitative attributes, and it is tailorable, allowing the user to weight the semantic and topological components. Further, the approach does not require the user to guess in advance the number of clusters. SToC relies on well known approximation techniques such as bottom-k sketches, traditional graph-theoretic concepts, and a new perspective on the composition of heterogeneous distance measures. Experimental results demonstrate its ability to efficiently compute high-quality partitions of large scale attributed graphs.Comment: This work has been published in ASONAM 2017. This version includes an appendix with validation of our attribute model and distance function, omitted in the converence version for lack of space. Please refer to the published versio

THERMAL CONDITIONING USING PHASE CHANGE MATERIALS

A combined procedure using a classical qualitative result for initial and boundary problems associated to parabolic equations, numerical treatment and computational simulation, have been used to obtain some results on the dynamic behavior of the function that provides the position of the melting interface or moving front of the phase change material at each time. This material is used in a special device that is designed in order to get thermal conditioning in physical - chemical systems of practical importance. A monotone dependence of the melting interface upon some parameters is also shown