The European ex situ PGR Information Landscape

In this paper the authors try to describe the current situation regarding the documentation of Plant Genetic Resources (PGR) maintained in ex situ collections in Europe. It will tackle the systems that are used to manage the information involved, the mechanisms and systems that exist to exchange this information, and we will discuss the developments and challenges in this area. Apart from this technical description, the authors also try to give a functional description of the changing role of these systems in the light of international, technical and legal developments

Guaranteed Bounds for General Nondiscrete Multistage Risk-Averse Stochastic Optimization Programs

In general, multistage stochastic optimization problems are formulated on the basis of continuous distributions describing the uncertainty. Such “infinite” problems are practically impossible to solve as they are formulated, and finite tree approximations of the underlying stochastic processes are used as proxies. In this paper, we demonstrate how one can find guaranteed bounds, i.e., finite tree models, for which the optimal values give upper and lower bounds for the optimal value of the original infinite problem. Typically, there is a gap between the two bounds. However, this gap can be made arbitrarily small by making the approximating trees bushier. We consider approximations in the first-order stochastic sense, in the convex-order sense, and based on subgradient approximations. Their use is shown in a multistage risk-averse production problem

Velocity, energy and helicity of vortex knots and unknots

In this paper we determine the velocity, the energy and estimate writhe and twist helicity contributions of vortex filaments in the shape of torus knots and unknots (toroidal and poloidal coils) in a perfect fluid. Calculations are performed by numerical integration of the Biot-Savart law. Vortex complexity is parametrized by the winding number $w$, given by the ratio of the number of meridian wraps to that of the longitudinal wraps. We find that for $w<1$ vortex knots and toroidal coils move faster and carry more energy than a reference vortex ring of same size and circulation, whereas for $w>1$ knots and poloidal coils have approximately same speed and energy of the reference vortex ring. Helicity is dominated by the writhe contribution. Finally, we confirm the stabilizing effect of the Biot-Savart law for all knots and unknots tested, that are found to be structurally stable over a distance of several diameters. Our results also apply to quantized vortices in superfluid $^4$He.Comment: 17 pages, 8 figures, 2 table

Organic and healthy: assessing the impact of claims and third-party certifications on premium price

Organic food consumption is steadily growing across a variety of product categories. While consumers are increasingly focused on the healthiness of the food they purchase, companies are experimenting alternative ways to communicate and guarantee the organic and health-related benefits of their products. This study explores the effect of different combinations of front-of-package (FoP) components on premium price. Specifically, we focus on the interaction and visual salience of FoP organic claims, health-related claims, and third-party organic certifications. Based on an analysis of grocery sales data and product packaging visuals, the study identifies FoP component combinations that could maximise premiums. We offer insights to marketing managers and companies involved in enhancing the communication of organic food benefits to consumers

Nonlinear model reduction for slow-fast stochastic systems near manifolds

We introduce a nonlinear stochastic model reduction technique for high-dimensional stochastic dynamical systems that have a low-dimensional invariant effective manifold with slow dynamics, and high-dimensional, large fast modes. Given only access to a black box simulator from which short bursts of simulation can be obtained, we estimate the invariant manifold, a process of the effective (stochastic) dynamics on it, and construct an efficient simulator thereof. These estimation steps can be performed on-the-fly, leading to efficient exploration of the effective state space, without losing consistency with the underlying dynamics. This construction enables fast and efficient simulation of paths of the effective dynamics, together with estimation of crucial features and observables of such dynamics, including the stationary distribution, identification of metastable states, and residence times and transition rates between them.Comment: 45 pages, 9 figures, 5 table

Novel Scintillating Materials Based on Phenyl-Polysiloxane for Neutron Detection and Monitoring

Neutron detectors are extensively used at many nuclear research facilities across Europe. Their application range covers many topics in basic and applied nuclear research: in nuclear structure and reaction dynamics (reaction reconstruction and decay studies); in nuclear astrophysics (neutron emission probabilities); in nuclear technology (nuclear data measurements and in-core/off-core monitors); in nuclear medicine (radiation monitors, dosimeters); in materials science (neutron imaging techniques); in homeland security applications (fissile materials investigation and cargo inspection). Liquid scintillators, widely used at present, have however some drawbacks given by toxicity, flammability, volatility and sensitivity to oxygen that limit their duration and quality. Even plastic scintillators are not satisfactory because they have low radiation hardness and low thermal stability. Moreover organic solvents may affect their optical properties due to crazing. In order to overcome these problems, phenyl-polysiloxane based scintillators have been recently developed at Legnaro National Laboratory. This new solution showed very good chemical and thermal stability and high radiation hardness. The results on the different samples performance will be presented, paying special attention to a characterization comparison between synthesized phenyl containing polysiloxane resins where a Pt catalyst has been used and a scintillating material obtained by condensation reaction, where tin based compounds are used as catalysts. Different structural arrangements as a result of different substituents on the main chain have been investigated by High Resolution X-Ray Diffraction, while the effect of improved optical transmittance on the scintillation yield has been elucidated by a combination of excitation/fluorescence measurements and scintillation yield under exposure to alpha and {\gamma}-rays.Comment: InterM 2013 - International Multidisciplinary Microscopy Congres

An unexpected guest: Pulmonary echinococcosis diagnosed by intraoperative frozen section examination. A case report and literature review

Echinococcosis is caused by tapeworms belonging to the Echinococcus genus. The most common site of infection is the liver although it may involve almost any organ. Symptoms of pulmonary echinococcosis vary depending on the location and structure of the cyst. While uncomplicated cysts usually appear at imaging as well-defined homogeneous lesions with fluid content and smooth walls of variable thickness, complicated lesions may have a more heterogeneous content with higher density making more difficult the distinction from malignancies or other infections. Hereby we describe the case of a 61-year-old Northern African male admitted to our tertiary center for left upper chest pain who then underwent a chest computed tomography (CT) scan which demonstrated a large hypodense lesion, with smooth and thick walls, in the upper left lobe. The following magnetic resonance confirmed the homogeneous fluid content, and the 18 F- fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography/CT demonstrated a mild uptake of the walls. According to these findings, the main differential diagnoses at imaging included bronchogenic cyst, synovial sarcoma, and pulmonary hematoma although the patient denied any recent trauma. Given the large size and clinical symptoms he underwent surgery. Intra-operative frozen section, supported by imprint cytology, excluded the presence of malignancy while suggested an echinococcal laminar exocyst. The final pathological examination confirmed the diagnosis of echinococcosis (i.e., Echinococcus Granulosus protoscolex). After surgery he was treated with albendazole and at the six-month follow-up he was in good clinical conditions. Our case highlights the importance of considering rare infections, particularly in individuals from endemic areas. Frozen tissue analyses can be a diagnostic challenge and often require ancillary tools such as imprint cytology and serial sections for more sensitive and accurate diagnosis

Design Performance Analysis of a Self-Organizing Map for Statistical Monitoring of Distribution-free Data Streams

In industrial applications, the continuously growing development of multi-sensor approaches, together with the trend of creating data-rich environments, are straining the effectiveness of the traditional Statistical Process Control (SPC) tools. Industrial data streams frequently violate the statistical assumptions on which SPC tools are based, presenting non-normal or even mixture distributions, strong autocorrelation and complex noise patterns. To tackle these challenges, novel nonparametric approaches are required. Machine learning techniques are suitable to deal with distributional assumption violations and to cope with complex data patterns. Recent studies showed that those methods can be used in quality control problems by exploiting only in-control data for training (such a learning paradigm is also known as “one-class-classification”). In recent studies, the use of distribution-free multivariate SPC methods was proposed, based on unsupervised statistical learning tools, pointing out the difficulty of defining suitable control regions for non-normal data. In this paper, a Self-Organizing Map (SOM) based monitoring approach is presented. The SOM is an automatic data-analysis method, widely applied in recent works to clustering and data exploration problems. A very interesting feature of this method consists of its capability of providing a computationally efficient way to estimate a data-adaptive control region, even in the presence of high dimensional problems. Nevertheless, very few authors adopted the SOM in an SPC monitoring strategy. The aim of this work is to exploit the SOM network architecture, and proposing a network design approach that suites the SPC needs. A comparison study is presented, in which the process monitoring performances are compared against literature benchmark methods. The comparison framework is based on both simulated data and real data from a roll grinding application

Kinetic energy of vortex knots and unknots

New results on the kinetic energy of ideal vortex filaments in the shape of torus knots and unknots are presented. These knots are given by small-amplitude torus knot solutions (Ricca, 1993) to the Localized Induction Approximation (LIA) law. The kinetic energy of different knot and unknot types is calculated and presented for comparison. These results provide new information on relationships between geometry, topology and dynamics of complex vortex systems and help to establish possible connections between aspects of structural complexity of dynamical systems and vortical flows.Comment: 14 pages, 5 figure

SERPINB3 delays glomerulonephritis and attenuates the lupus-like disease in lupus murine models by inducing a more tolerogenic immune phenotype

Objective: To explore the effects of SERPINB3 administration in murine lupus models with a focus on lupus-like nephritis. Methods: 40 NZB/W F1 mice were subdivided into 4 groups and intraperitoneally injected with recombinant SERPINB3 (7.5 \u3bcg/0.1 mL or 15 \u3bcg/0.1 mL) or PBS (0.1 mL) before (group 1 and 2) or after (group 3 and 4) the development of proteinuria ( 65100 mg/dl). Two additional mice groups were provided by including 20 MRL/lpr mice which were prophylactically injected with SERPINB3 (10 mice, group 5) or PBS (10 mice, group 6). Time of occurrence and levels of anti-dsDNA and anti-C1q antibodies, proteinuria and serum creatinine, overall- and proteinuria-free survival were assessed in mice followed up to natural death. Histological analysis was performed in kidneys of both lupus models. The Th17:Treg cell ratio was assessed by flow-cytometry in splenocytes of treated and untreated MRL/lpr mice. Statistical analysis was performed using non parametric tests and Kaplan-Meier curves, when indicated. Results: Autoantibody levels and proteinuria were significantly decreased and time of occurrence significantly delayed in SERPINB3-treated mice vs. controls. In agreement with these findings, proteinuria-free and overall survival were significantly improved in SERPINB3-treated groups vs. controls. Histological analysis demonstrated a lower prevalence of severe tubular lesions in kidneys of group 5 vs. group 6. SERPINB3-treated mice showed an overall trend toward a reduced prevalence of severe lesions in both strains. Th17:Treg ratio was significantly decreased in splenocytes of MRL/lpr mice treated with SERPINB3, compared to untreated control mice. Conclusions: SERPINB3 significantly improves disease course and delays the onset of severe glomerulonephritis in lupus-prone mice, possibly inducing a more tolerogenic immune phenotype