2,901 research outputs found
The Ultraviolet Sky: An Overview from the GALEX Surveys
The Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX) has performed the first surveys of the
sky in the Ultraviolet (UV). Its legacy is an unprecedented database with more
than 200 million source measurements in far-UV (FUV) and near-UV (NUV), as well
as wide-field imaging of extended objects, filling an important gap in our view
of the sky across the electromagnetic spectrum. The UV surveys offer unique
sensitivity for identifying and studying selected classes of astrophysical
objects, both stellar and extra-galactic. We examine the overall content and
distribution of UV sources over the sky, and with magnitude and color. For this
purpose, we have constructed final catalogs of UV sources with homogeneous
quality, eliminating duplicate measurements of the same source. Such catalogs
can facilitate a variety of investigations on UV-selected samples, as well as
planning of observations with future missions.
We describe the criteria used to build the catalogs, their coverage and
completeness. We included observations in which both the far-UV and near-UV
detectors were exposed; 28,707 fields from the All-Sky Imaging survey (AIS)
cover a unique area of 22,080 square degrees (after we restrict the catalogs to
the central 1-degree diameter of the field), with a typical depth of about
20/21 mag (FUV/NUV, in the AB mag system), and 3,008 fields from the
Medium-depth Imaging Survey (MIS) cover a total of 2,251 square degrees at a
depth of about 22.7mag. The catalogs contain about 71 and 16.6 million sources
respectively. The density of hot stars reflects the Galactic structure, and the
number counts of both Galactic and extra-galactic sources are modulated by the
Milky Way dust extinction, to which the UV data are very sensitive.Comment: J. Adv. Space Res. (2013), Full resolution figures can be found in
the original published article (open access) at :
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0273117713004742 or from
http://dolomiti.pha.jhu.edu/publgoto.html ; catalogs are posted on MAS
Delay and Cooperation in Nonstochastic Bandits
We study networks of communicating learning agents that cooperate to solve a
common nonstochastic bandit problem. Agents use an underlying communication
network to get messages about actions selected by other agents, and drop
messages that took more than hops to arrive, where is a delay
parameter. We introduce \textsc{Exp3-Coop}, a cooperative version of the {\sc
Exp3} algorithm and prove that with actions and agents the average
per-agent regret after rounds is at most of order , where is the
independence number of the -th power of the connected communication graph
. We then show that for any connected graph, for the regret
bound is , strictly better than the minimax regret
for noncooperating agents. More informed choices of lead to bounds which
are arbitrarily close to the full information minimax regret
when is dense. When has sparse components, we show that a variant of
\textsc{Exp3-Coop}, allowing agents to choose their parameters according to
their centrality in , strictly improves the regret. Finally, as a by-product
of our analysis, we provide the first characterization of the minimax regret
for bandit learning with delay.Comment: 30 page
Mineralisation of surfactants using ultrasound and the Advanced Fenton Process
The destruction of the surfactants, sodium dodecylbenzene sulfonate (DBS) and dodecyl pyridinium chloride (DPC), using an advanced oxidation process is described. The use of zero valent iron (ZVI) and hydrogen peroxide at pH = 2.5 (the advanced Fenton process), with and without, the application of 20 kHz ultrasound leads to extensive mineralisation of both materials as determined by total organic carbon (TOC)measurements. For DBS, merely stirring with ZVI and H2O2 at 20°C leads to a 51% decrease in TOC, but using 20 kHz ultrasound at 40°C, maintaining the pH at 2.5 throughout and adding extra amounts of ZVI and H2O2 during the degradation, then the extent of mineralisation of DBS is substantially increased to 93%. A similar result is seen for DPC where virtually no degradation occurs at 20°C, but if extra amounts of both ZVI and hydrogen peroxide are introduced during the reaction at 40°C and the pH is maintained at 2.5, then an 87% mineralisation of DPC is obtained. The slow latent remediation of both surfactants and the mechanism of degradation are also discussed
Time series kernel similarities for predicting Paroxysmal Atrial Fibrillation from ECGs
We tackle the problem of classifying Electrocardiography (ECG) signals with
the aim of predicting the onset of Paroxysmal Atrial Fibrillation (PAF). Atrial
fibrillation is the most common type of arrhythmia, but in many cases PAF
episodes are asymptomatic. Therefore, in order to help diagnosing PAF, it is
important to design procedures for detecting and, more importantly, predicting
PAF episodes. We propose a method for predicting PAF events whose first step
consists of a feature extraction procedure that represents each ECG as a
multi-variate time series. Successively, we design a classification framework
based on kernel similarities for multi-variate time series, capable of handling
missing data. We consider different approaches to perform classification in the
original space of the multi-variate time series and in an embedding space,
defined by the kernel similarity measure. We achieve a classification accuracy
comparable with state of the art methods, with the additional advantage of
detecting the PAF onset up to 15 minutes in advance
Art in Learning processes
In learning processes, the affective-relational aspect plays a strategic role of no less importance than the cognitive sphere. The traditional education offerings of schools and, even more, universities, very often neglect the necessary integration between these aspects.
Art, in its various forms and its many languages, can promote motivation, interest, participation and passion in the learner and can be an effective element of connection between \u201cthe reasoning of the heart and the reasoning of the mind\u201d. The art languages are characterized by an uninterrupted flow of images, awesomeness, references, open-mindedness which predisposes to meta-learning, a crucial resource for the global education.
A network connecting von Foerster, Van Gogh, Bateson and Frida Kahlo stems from narration about art, ethics, therapy, science and political activism
A preclinical model for the ATLL lymphoma subtype with insights into the role of microenvironment in HTLV-1-mediated lymphomagenesis
Abstract
\uef7f View references (83)
Adult T cell Leukemia/Lymphoma (ATLL) is a mature T cell malignancy associated with Human T cell Leukemia Virus type 1 (HTLV-1) infection. Among its four main clinical subtypes, the prognosis of acute and lymphoma variants remains poor. The long latency (3-6 decades) and low incidence (3-5%) of ATLL imply the involvement of viral and host factors in full-blown malignancy. Despite multiple preclinical and clinical studies, the contribution of the stromal microenvironment in ATLL development is not yet completely unraveled. The aims of this study were to investigate the role of the host microenvironment, and specifically fibroblasts, in ATLL pathogenesis and to propose a murine model for the lymphoma subtype. Here we present evidence that the oncogenic capacity of HTLV-1-immortalized C91/PL cells is enhanced when they are xenotransplanted together with human foreskin fibroblasts (HFF) in immunocompromised BALB/c Rag2-/-\u3b3c -/-mice. Moreover, cell lines derived from a developed lymphoma and their subsequent in vivo passages acquired the stable property to induce aggressive T cell lymphomas. In particular, one of these cell lines, C91/III cells, consistently induced aggressive lymphomas also in NOD/SCID/IL2R\u3b3c KO (NSG) mice. To dissect the mechanisms linked to this enhanced tumorigenic ability, we quantified 45 soluble factors released by these cell lines and found that 21 of them, mainly pro-inflammatory cytokines and chemokines, were significantly increased in C91/III cells compared to the parental C91/PL cells. Moreover, many of the increased factors were also released by human fibroblasts and belonged to the known secretory pattern of ATLL cells. C91/PL cells co-cultured with HFF showed features reminiscent of those observed in C91/III cells, including a similar secretory pattern and a more aggressive behavior in vivo. On the whole, our data provide evidence that fibroblasts, one of the major stromal components, might enhance tumorigenesis of HTLV-1-infected and immortalized T cells, thus throwing light on the role of microenvironment contribution in ATLL pathogenesis. We also propose that the lymphoma induced in NSG mice by injection with C91/III cells represents a new murine preclinical ATLL model that could be adopted to test novel therapeutic interventions for the aggressive lymphoma subtype
Branes and Six Dimensional Supersymmetric Theories
We consider configurations of six-branes, five-branes and eight-branes in
various superstring backgrounds. These configurations give rise to
supersymmetric theories in six dimensions. The condition for RR charge
conservation of a brane configuration translates to the condition that the
corresponding field theory is anomaly-free. Sets of infinitely many models with
non-trivial RG fixed points at strong coupling are demonstrated. Some of them
reproduce and generalise the world-volume theories of SO(32) and small instantons. All the models are shown to be connected by smooth
transitions. In particular, the small instanton transition for which a tensor
multiplet is traded for 29 hypermultiplets is explicitly demonstrated. The
particular limit in which these theories can be considered as six-dimensional
string theories without gravity are discussed. New fixed points (string
theories) associated with global symmetries are discovered by taking the
strong string coupling limit.Comment: 33 pages, 3 figures, harvmac.tex. References adde
Distribution of sea-air CO 2 fluxes in the Patagonian Sea: Seasonal, biological and thermal effects
Sea-air CO2 fluxes (FCO2) in the Patagonian Sea (PS) were studied using observations collected in 2000-2006. Based on the PS frontal structures and the thermal and biological contributions to FCO2 we present a regional subdivision between distinct regimes that provide new insights on the processes that control these fluxes. The coastal regime (CR) is a net source of atmospheric CO2 (4.9 x 10-3mol.m-2.d-1) while the open shelf regime (SHR) is a net CO2 sink (-6.0 x 10-3mol.m-2.d-1). The interface between these two regions closely follows the location of along-shore fronts. In addition, based on the nature of the processes that drive the FCO2, the PS is subdivided between northern (NR) and southern (SR) regions. Both, NR and SR are CO2 sinks, but the CO2 uptake is significantly higher in NR (-6.4 x 10-3mol.m-2.d-1) than in SR (-0.5 x 10-3mol.m-2.d-1). The data reveal a strong seasonality in FCO2. The mean CO2 capture throughout the PS in austral spring is -5.8 x 10-3mol.m-2.d-1, reaching values lower than -50 x 10-3mol.m-2.d-1 in NR, while in winter FCO2 is close to equilibrium in SR. The analysis of the biological and thermal effects (BE and TE, respectively) on seasonal pCO2 variability indicates that regions of CO2 emission are dominated by the TE while regions of CO2 uptake are dominated by the BE. Our results indicate that the biological pump is the dominant process determining the sea-air CO2 flux in the PS.Fil: Kahl, LucĂa Carolina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Ciencias de la AtmĂłsfera y los OcĂ©anos; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones CientĂficas y TĂ©cnicas; Argentina. Ministerio de Defensa. Armada Argentina. Servicio de HidrografĂa Naval. Departamento OceanografĂa; ArgentinaFil: Bianchi, Alejandro A.. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Ciencias de la AtmĂłsfera y los OcĂ©anos; Argentina. Ministerio de Defensa. Armada Argentina. Servicio de HidrografĂa Naval. Departamento OceanografĂa; ArgentinaFil: Osiroff, Ana Paula. Ministerio de Defensa. Armada Argentina. Servicio de HidrografĂa Naval. Departamento OceanografĂa; ArgentinaFil: Pino, Diana Ruiz. Universite Pierre et Marie Curie; FranciaFil: Piola, Alberto Ricardo. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Ciencias de la AtmĂłsfera y los OcĂ©anos; Argentina. Ministerio de Defensa. Armada Argentina. Servicio de HidrografĂa Naval. Departamento OceanografĂa; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones CientĂficas y TĂ©cnicas; Argentin
Pyruvate kinase deficiency
Over the past few years the inherited disorders of erythrocyte metabolism have been the object of intensive research which has resulted in a better understanding of their molecular basis. However, curative therapy for red blood cell (RBC) enzyme defects still remains undeveloped. Among glycolyti
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