Sponge perforating lace coral with anticancer activity

This short note reports results from a pilot study to investigate new anticancer agents from deepsea corals in which colonizing sponges were encountered. The pure white stylasterid coral fans of Errina dabneyi (Pourtalès, 1871) are a conspicuous feature on the upper bathyal slopes in Azorean waters and can be found in depths from 215 to more than 500 m (Wisshak et al. 2009; Braga-Henriques et al. 2013). From the 26 species of Errina known worldwide (most from deeper waters) (Cairns 1983), E. dabneyi seems to be endemic to the Azores Archipelago and the adjacent Mid-Atlantic Ridge region (Zibrowius & Cairns 1992; Braga-Henriques et al. 2013). […]

Tropical Fourier-Motzkin elimination, with an application to real-time verification

We introduce a generalization of tropical polyhedra able to express both strict and non-strict inequalities. Such inequalities are handled by means of a semiring of germs (encoding infinitesimal perturbations). We develop a tropical analogue of Fourier-Motzkin elimination from which we derive geometrical properties of these polyhedra. In particular, we show that they coincide with the tropically convex union of (non-necessarily closed) cells that are convex both classically and tropically. We also prove that the redundant inequalities produced when performing successive elimination steps can be dynamically deleted by reduction to mean payoff game problems. As a complement, we provide a coarser (polynomial time) deletion procedure which is enough to arrive at a simply exponential bound for the total execution time. These algorithms are illustrated by an application to real-time systems (reachability analysis of timed automata).Comment: 29 pages, 8 figure

Lipid extractions from marine deep-sea invertebrates : modifications to the Bligh & Dyer method to increase lipid yields

The deep-sea environment is difficult to sample, and often only small quantities of samples can be obtained when using less destructive methods than dredging. When working with marine animals that are difficult to sample and with limited quantities of tissue to extract lipids, it is essential to ensure that the used method extracts the maximum possible quantity of lipids. This study evaluates the efficiency of introducing modifications to the method originally described by Bligh & Dyer (1959). This lipid extraction method is broadly used with modifications, although these usually lack proper description and evaluation of increment in lipids. In this study we consider the improvement in terms of amount of lipids extracted by changing the method. Lipid content was determined by gravimetric measurements in eight invertebrates from the deep-sea, including deep-sea hydrothermal vents animals, using three different approaches. Results show increases of 14% to 30% in lipid contents obtained from hydrothermal vent invertebrate tissues and whole animals by placing the samples in methanol for 24 hours before applying the Bligh & Dyer mixture. Efficiency of the extractions using frozen and freeze-dried samples was also compared. For large sponges, the use of lyophilized materials resulted in increases of 3 to 7 times more lipids extracted when compared with extractions using frozen samples

Tendency to Maximum Complexity in a Non-Equilibrium Isolated System

The time evolution equations of a simplified isolated ideal gas, the "tetrahe- dral" gas, are derived. The dynamical behavior of the LMC complexity [R. Lopez-Ruiz, H. L. Mancini, and X. Calbet, Phys. Lett. A 209, 321 (1995)] is studied in this system. In general, it is shown that the complexity remains within the bounds of minimum and maximum complexity. We find that there are certain restrictions when the isolated "tetrahedral" gas evolves towards equilibrium. In addition to the well-known increase in entropy, the quantity called disequilibrium decreases monotonically with time. Furthermore, the trajectories of the system in phase space approach the maximum complexity.Comment: 22 pages, 0 figures. Published in Phys. Rev. E 63, 066116(9) (2001

A FENCING KINEMATIC ANALYSIS BASED ON COACH’S CRITERIA

The purpose of this study was to identify, based on coach's criteria, upper body and center of mass kinematic variables that lead to a good performance in epee fencing. We used an Optitrack motion capture system to evaluate one skilled amateur fencing athlete performing a lunge in the presence or not of a static opponent. In the presence of a static opponent (target), the individual developed a lower centre of mass forward velocity, a higher epee’s tip forward velocity and improved synchronization between the upper and the lower limbs. The best-performed trials according to coach criteria showed differences in the elbow movement in both the armed and unarmed arm compared to the other trials. Our results highlights the importance of the unarmed arm to lunge performance and corroborate the idea that training with and without the use of a target improve different motor abilities

Asymptotic scaling laws for the irrotational motions bordering a turbulent region

Turbulent flows are often bounded by regions of irrotational or non-turbulent flow, where the magnitude of the potential velocity fluctuations can be surprisingly high. This includes virtually all turbulent free-shear flows and also turbulent boundary layers, and is particularly true near the so-called turbulent/non-turbulent interface (TNTI) layer, which separates the regions of turbulent and non-turbulent fluid motion. In the present work, we show that in the non-turbulent region and for distances x_2 sufficiently far from the TNTI layer, the asymptotic variation laws for the variance of the velocity fluctuations ⟨u_i^2⟩ (i=1,2,3), Taylor micro-scale λ and viscous dissipation rate ε depend on the shape of the kinetic energy spectrum in the infrared region E(k) ∼ k^n. Specifically, by using rapid distortion theory (RDT), we show that for Saffman turbulence (E(k) ∼ k^2), we obtain the asymptotic laws ⟨u_i^2⟩ ∼ x_2^(−3) (i=1,2,3), λ ∼ x_2 and ε ∼ x_2^(−5). Additionally, we confirm the classical results obtained by Phillips (Proc. Camb. Phil. Soc., vol. 51, 1955, p. 220) for Batchelor turbulence (E(k) ∼ k^4), with ⟨u_i^2⟩ ∼ x_2^(−4) (i=1,2,3), λ ∼ x_2 and ε ∼ x_2^(−6). The new theoretical results are confirmed by direct numerical simulations (DNS) of shear-free turbulence and are shown to be independent of the Reynolds number. Therefore, these results are expected to be valid in other flow configurations, such as in turbulent planar jets or wakes, provided the kinetic energy spectra in the turbulence region can be described by a Batchelor or a Saffman spectrum

A study of a monodisperse microbubble jet under microgravity conditions

Peer Reviewe

Resumen de la Tarea de Análisis de Sentimientos Basado en Aspectos en Portugués (ABSAPT) en IberLEF 2022

Este artículo presenta la Tarea sobre Análisis de Sentimientos basado en Aspectos en Portugués (ABSAPT), realizada en el IberLEF 2022. Les pedimos a los participantes que desarrollaran sistemas capaces de identificar aspectos (AE) y extraer la polaridad (ASC) en textos escritos en portugués. Doce equipos se inscribieron en la tarea, entre los cuales cinco presentaron predicciones e informes técnicos. El sistema con mejor rendimiento logró un valor de precisión (Acc) de 0,67 para la subtarea de AE (Equipo Deep Learning Brasil) y un valor de precisión equilibrada (Bacc) de 0,82 para la subtarea de ASC (Equipo Deep Learning Brasil).This paper presents the task on Aspect-Based Sentiment Analysis in Portuguese (ABSAPT), held within Iberian Languages Evaluation Forum (IberLEF 2022). We asked the participants to develop systems capable of extracting aspects (AE) and classifying sentiment of aspects (ASC) in texts. We created one corpora containing reviews about hotels. Twelve teams registered to the task, among which five submitted predictions and technical reports. The best performing system achieved an Accuracy (Acc) value of 0.67 in AE sub-task (Team Deep Learning Brasil) and a Balanced Accuracy (Bacc) value of 0.82 in ASC sub-task (Team Deep Learning Brasil).This work was financed in part by the following Brazilian research agencies: CAPES and CNPq

Updated measurement of time-dependent CP -violating observables in Bs0→J/ψK+K- decays

The decay-time-dependent CP asymmetry in Bs0→J/ψK+K- decays is measured using proton-proton collision data, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 1.9fb-1, collected with the LHCb detector at a centre-of-mass energy of 13TeV in 2015 and 2016. Using a sample of approximately 117 000 signal decays with an invariant K+K- mass in the vicinity of the ϕ(1020) resonance, the CP-violating phase ϕs is measured, along with the difference in decay widths of the light and heavy mass eigenstates of the Bs0-B¯s0 system, Δ Γ s. The difference of the average Bs0 and B meson decay widths, Γ s- Γ d, is determined using in addition a sample of B→ J/ ψK+π- decays. The values obtained are ϕs=-0.083±0.041±0.006rad, ΔΓs=0.077±0.008±0.003ps-1 and Γs-Γd=-0.0041±0.0024±0.0015ps-1, where the first uncertainty is statistical and the second systematic. These are the most precise single measurements of these quantities to date and are consistent with expectations based on the Standard Model and with a previous LHCb analysis of this decay using data recorded at centre-of-mass energies 7 and 8 TeV. Finally, the results are combined with recent results from Bs0→J/ψπ+π- decays obtained using the same dataset as this analysis, and with previous independent LHCb result

Intercellular interactions between mast cells and stromal fibroblasts obtained from canine cutaneous mast cell tumours

Mast cell tumours (MCTs) are the most frequent malignant skin neoplasm in dogs. Due to the difficulty in purifying large numbers of canine neoplastic mast cells, relatively little is known about their properties. A reproducible in vitro model is needed to increase the understanding about the phenotype and functional properties of neoplastic mast cells. In the present study, we describe the establishment of primary cocultures of neoplastic mast cells from canine cutaneous MCTs and cancer-associated fibroblasts. We confirmed the inability of canine neoplastic mast cells to remain viable for long periods in vitro without the addition of growth factors or in vivo passages in mice. Using a transwell system, we observed that mast cell viability was significantly higher when there is cell-to-cell contact in comparison to non-physical contact conditions and that mast cell viability was significantly higher in high-grade than in low-grade derived primary cultures. Moreover, the use of conditioned medium from co-cultured cells led to a significantly higher tumoral mast cell viability when in monoculture. Signalling mechanisms involved in these interactions might be attractive therapeutic targets to block canine MCT progression and deserve more in-depth investigations