Interfacial Contact with Noble Metal - Noble Metal and Noble Metal - 2D Semiconductor Nanostructures Enhance Optical Activity

Noble metal nanoparticles and two-dimensional (2D) transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD) crystals offer unique optical and electronic properties that include strong exciton binding, spin-orbital coupling, and localized surface plasmon resonance. Controlling these properties at high spatiotemporal resolution can support emerging optoelectronic coupling and enhanced optical features. Excitation dynamics of these optical properties on physicochemically bonded mono- and few-layer TMD crystals with metal nanocrystals and two overlapping spherical metal nanocrystals were examined by concurrently (i) DDA simulations and (ii) far-field optical transmission UV-vis spectroscopic measurements. Initially, a novel and scalable method to unsettle van der Waals bonds in bulk TMDs to prepare mono- and few-layer crystals was performed. Examination of the solution-based and electrochemical deposition of metal nanocrystals on 2D TMD crystals, comparing their optical, electronic, and optoelectronic characteristics was accomplished via characterization methods. Subsequently, DDA simulations for noble metal - semiconductor nanocrystal and noble metal - noble metal nanocrystal heterostructures analyzed the effects of metal type, geometry, and orientation for the predefined nanoantennae parameters. Results from these computational and experimental optical spectra demonstrate promising percent error difference, in which distinguished quantitative effects of 2D TMDs crystals - metal nanocrystals and metal nanocrystals - metal nanocrystals facilitated optoelectronic activity in the UV-Vis-NIR region. New experimental and theoretical insights into energy conversion interactions between coupled plasmonic and excitonic materials spanning the optical regimes were established towards their applications in optoelectronic and biological engineering platforms

Toward Linearizability Testing for Multi-Word Persistent Synchronization Primitives

Persistent memory makes it possible to recover in-memory data structures following a failure instead of rebuilding them from state saved in slow secondary storage. Implementing such recoverable data structures correctly is challenging as their underlying algorithms must deal with both parallelism and failures, which makes them especially susceptible to programming errors. Traditional proofs of correctness should therefore be combined with other methods, such as model checking or software testing, to minimize the likelihood of uncaught defects. This research focuses specifically on the algorithmic principles of software testing, particularly linearizability analysis, for multi-word persistent synchronization primitives such as conditional swap operations. We describe an efficient decision procedure for linearizability in this context, and discuss its practical applications in detecting previously-unknown bugs in implementations of multi-word persistent primitives

O humanismo e o direito a vida: uma análise filosófica e sociológica da ADI 3510

Este artigo busca fazer uma análise de caso da Ação Direta de Inconstitucionalidade de n° 3510, julgada improcedente pelo STF, que objetivava revogar o artigo 5° da lei de biossegurança 11.105/05, referente ao uso científico das células-tronco embrionárias. A abordagem visa à reflexão do tema nos aspectos ético, jurídico e filosófico, cujo foco principal é trazer possibilidades de como o Direito pode se adaptar aos adventos da tecnologia e pós-modernidade. Para enriquecer o debate e melhor compreendê-lo, as ideias de Carlos Ayres Britto, o então relator do processo, e de Jürgen Habermas são essenciais, trazendo múltiplas visões a fim de demonstrar o quão complexo é a natureza das decisões jurídico-sociais

Opinions and practices of healthcare professionals on assessment of disease associated malnutrition in children: results from an international survey

Background & aims: Lack of consensus on clinical indicators for the assessment of pediatric disease associated malnutrition (DAM) may explain its under-recognition in clinical practice. This study surveyed the opinions of health professionals (HP) on clinical indicators of DAM and barriers impeding routine nutritional screening in children. Methods: Web-based questionnaire survey (April 2013–August 2015) in Australia, Belgium, Israel, Spain, The Netherlands, Turkey and UK. Results: There were 937 questionnaires returned via local professional associations, of which 693 respondents fulfilled the inclusion criteria and were included in the final analysis; 315 pediatric gastroenterologists and 378 pediatric dieticians. The most important clinical indicators of DAM were ongoing weight loss (80.4%), increased energy/nutrient losses (73.0%), suboptimal energy/macronutrient intake (68.6%), a high nutritional risk condition (67.2%) and increased energy/nutrient requirements (66.2%). These findings were consistent across countries and professions. The most common approach to screen for DAM was assessment of weight changes (85%), followed by the usage of growth charts (77–80%). Common perceived barriers for routine nutritional screening/assessment were low staff awareness (47.5%), no local policy or guidelines (33.4%) and lack of time to screen (33.4%). Conclusions: HP who routinely assess and treat children with DAM identified ongoing weight loss, increased losses, increased requirements, low intake and high nutritional risk conditions as the most important clinical indicators of DAM. These clinical indicators should now serve as a basis to form clinical-based criteria for the identification of DAM in routine clinical practice. Low awareness, lack of guidelines or local policy and lack of resources were the most important barriers of routine screening

The risk of dengue for non-immune foreign visitors to the 2016 summer olympic games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Background: Rio de Janeiro in Brazil will host the Summer Olympic Games in 2016. About 400,000 non-immune foreign tourists are expected to attend the games. As Brazil is the country with the highest number of dengue cases worldwide, concern about the risk of dengue for travelers is justified. Methods: A mathematical model to calculate the risk of developing dengue for foreign tourists attending the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro in 2016 is proposed. A system of differential equation models the spread of dengue amongst the resident population and a stochastic approximation is used to assess the risk to tourists. Historical reported dengue time series in Rio de Janeiro for the years 2000-2015 is used to find out the time dependent force of infection, which is then used to estimate the potential risks to a large tourist cohort. The worst outbreak of dengue occurred in 2012 and this and the other years in the history of Dengue in Rio are used to discuss potential risks to tourists amongst visitors to the forthcoming Rio Olympics. Results: The individual risk to be infected by dengue is very much dependent on the ratio asymptomatic/symptomatic considered but independently of this the worst month of August in the period studied in terms of dengue transmission, occurred in 2007. Conclusions: If dengue returns in 2016 with the pattern observed in the worst month of August in history (2007), the expected number of symptomatic and asymptomatic dengue cases among tourists will be 23 and 206 cases, respectively. This worst case scenario would have an incidence of 5.75 (symptomatic) and 51.5 (asymptomatic) per 100,000 individuals

The risk of dengue for non-immune foreign visitors to the 2016 summer olympic games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Background: Rio de Janeiro in Brazil will host the Summer Olympic Games in 2016. About 400,000 non-immune foreign tourists are expected to attend the games. As Brazil is the country with the highest number of dengue cases worldwide, concern about the risk of dengue for travelers is justified. Methods: A mathematical model to calculate the risk of developing dengue for foreign tourists attending the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro in 2016 is proposed. A system of differential equation models the spread of dengue amongst the resident population and a stochastic approximation is used to assess the risk to tourists. Historical reported dengue time series in Rio de Janeiro for the years 2000-2015 is used to find out the time dependent force of infection, which is then used to estimate the potential risks to a large tourist cohort. The worst outbreak of dengue occurred in 2012 and this and the other years in the history of Dengue in Rio are used to discuss potential risks to tourists amongst visitors to the forthcoming Rio Olympics. Results: The individual risk to be infected by dengue is very much dependent on the ratio asymptomatic/symptomatic considered but independently of this the worst month of August in the period studied in terms of dengue transmission, occurred in 2007. Conclusions: If dengue returns in 2016 with the pattern observed in the worst month of August in history (2007), the expected number of symptomatic and asymptomatic dengue cases among tourists will be 23 and 206 cases, respectively. This worst case scenario would have an incidence of 5.75 (symptomatic) and 51.5 (asymptomatic) per 100,000 individuals

Metabolic Glycoengineering Enables the Ultrastructural Visualization of Sialic Acids in the Glycocalyx of the Alveolar Epithelial Cell Line hAELVi

The glycocalyx-a plethora of sugars forming a dense layer that covers the cell membrane-is commonly found on the epithelial surface of lumen forming tissue. New glycocalyx specific properties have been defined for various organs in the last decade. However, in the lung alveolar epithelium, its structure and functions remain almost completely unexplored. This is partly due to the lack of physiologically relevant, cost effective in vitro models. As the glycocalyx is an essential but neglected part of the alveolar epithelial barrier, understanding its properties holds the promise to enhance the pulmonary administration of drugs and delivery of nanoparticles. Here, using air-liquid-interface (ALI) cell culture, we focus on combining metabolic glycoengineering with glycan specific electron and confocal microscopy to visualize the glycocalyx of a recently immortalized human alveolar epithelial cell line (hAELVi). For this purpose, we applied different bioorthogonal labeling approaches to visualize sialic acid-an amino sugar that provides negative charge to the lung epithelial glycocalyx-using both fluorescence and gold-nanoparticle labeling. Further, we compared mild chemical fixing/freeze substitution and standard cytochemical electron microscopy embedding protocols for their capacity of contrasting the glycocalyx. In our study, we established hAELVi cells as a convenient model for investigating human alveolar epithelial glycocalyx. Transmission electron microscopy revealed hAELVi cells to develop ultrastructural features reminiscent of alveolar epithelial type II cells (ATII). Further, we visualized extracellular uni- and multilamellar membranous structures in direct proximity to the glycocalyx at ultrastructural level, indicating putative interactions. The lamellar membranes were able to form structures of higher organization, and we report sialic acid to be present within those. In conclusion, combining metabolite specific glycoengineering with ultrastructural localization presents an innovative method with high potential to depict the molecular distribution of individual components of the alveolar epithelial glycocalyx and its interaction partners

Risk of symptomatic dengue for foreign visitors to the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil

Brazil will host the FIFA World Cup T, the biggest single-event competition in the world, from June 12-July 13 2014 in 12 cities. This event will draw an estimated 600,000 international visitors. Brazil is endemic for dengue. Hence, attendees of the 2014 event are theoretically at risk for dengue. We calculated the risk of dengue acquisition to non-immune international travellers to Brazil, depending on the football match schedules, considering locations and dates of such matches for June and July 2014. We estimated the average per-capita risk and expected number of dengue cases for each host-city and each game schedule chosen based on reported dengue cases to the Brazilian Ministry of Health for the period between 2010-2013. On the average, the expected number of cases among the 600,000 foreigner tourists during the World Cup is 33, varying from 3-59. Such risk estimates will not only benefit individual travellers for adequate pre-travel preparations, but also provide valuable information for public health professionals and policy makers worldwide. Furthermore, estimates of dengue cases in international travellers during the World Cup can help to anticipate the theoretical risk for exportation of dengue into currently non-infected areas.FNS-SVSMSConselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)LIM01-HCFMUSPFundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)DengueTools/Seventh Framework Programme of the European CommunityUniv São Paulo, Fac Med, Hosp Clin LIM01, São Paulo, BrazilUniv São Paulo, Fac Med Vet, São Paulo, BrazilUniv São Paulo, Nucleo Anal Interdisciplinares Polit Publ & Estra, São Paulo, BrazilLondon Sch Hyg & Trop Med, London WC1, EnglandNanyang Univ, Lee Kong Chian Sch Med, Singapore, SingaporeFlorida Int Univ, Ctr Internet Augmented Res & Assesssment, Miami, FL 33199 USAMinist Saude, Brasilia, DF, BrazilFiocruz MS, Programa Comp Cient, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, BrazilUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, Escola Paulista Med, Hosp São Paulo, São Paulo, BrazilUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, Escola Paulista Med, Hosp São Paulo, São Paulo, BrazilMS: 27835/2012DengueTools/Seventh Framework Programme of the European Community: 282589Web of Scienc

Deep transfer learning of global spectra for local soil carbon monitoring

There is global interest in spectroscopy and the development of large and diverse soil spectral libraries (SSL) to model soil organic carbon (SOC) and monitor, report, and verify (MRV) its changes. The reason is that increasing SOC can improve food production and mitigate climate change. However, ‘global’ modelling of SOC with such diverse and hyperdimensional SSLs do not generalise well locally, e.g. at a field scale. To address this challenge, we propose deep transfer learning (DTL) to leverage useful information from large-scale SSLs to assist local modelling. We used one global, three country-specific SSLs and data from three local sites with DTL to improve the modelling and localise the SOC estimates in individual fields or farms in each country. With DTL, we transferred instances from the SSLs, representations from one-dimensional convolutional neural networks (1D-CNNs) trained on the SSLs, and both instances and representations to improve local modelling. Transferring instances effectively used information from the global SSL to most accurately estimate SOC in each site, reducing the root mean square error (RMSE) by 25.8% on average compared with local modelling. Our results highlight the effectiveness of DTL and the value of diverse, global SSLs for accurate local SOC predictions. Applying DTL with a global SSL one could estimate SOC anywhere in the world more accurately, rapidly, and cost-effectively, enabling MRV protocols to monitor SOC changes