Vibrating soap films: An analog for quantum chaos on billiards

We present an experimental setup based on the normal modes of vibrating soap films which shows quantum features of integrable and chaotic billiards. In particular, we obtain the so-called scars -narrow linear regions with high probability along classical periodic orbits- for the classically chaotic billiards. We show that these scars are also visible at low frequencies. Finally, we suggest some applications of our experimental setup in other related two-dimensional wave phenomena.Comment: 5 pages, 7 figures. Better Postscript figures available on reques

Suppression of planar cell polarity signaling and migration in glioblastoma by Nrdp1-mediated Dvl polyubiquitination.

The lethality of the aggressive brain tumor glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) results in part from its strong propensity to invade surrounding normal brain tissue. Although oncogenic drivers such as epidermal growth factor receptor activation and Phosphatase and Tensin homolog inactivation are thought to promote the motility and invasiveness of GBM cells via phosphatidylinostitol 3-kinase activation, other unexplored mechanisms may also contribute to malignancy. Here we demonstrate that several components of the planar cell polarity (PCP) arm of non-canonical Wnt signaling including VANGL1, VANGL2 and FZD7 are transcriptionally upregulated in glioma and correlate with poorer patient outcome. Knockdown of the core PCP pathway component VANGL1 suppresses the motility of GBM cell lines, pointing to an important mechanistic role for this pathway in glioblastoma malignancy. We further observe that restoration of Nrdp1, a RING finger type E3 ubiquitin ligase whose suppression in GBM also correlates with poor prognosis, reduces GBM cell migration and invasiveness by suppressing PCP signaling. Our observations indicate that Nrdp1 physically interacts with the Vangl1 and Vangl2 proteins to mediate the K63-linked polyubiquitination of the Dishevelled, Egl-10 and Pleckstrin (DEP) domain of the Wnt pathway protein Dishevelled (Dvl). Ubiquitination hinders Dvl binding to phosphatidic acid, an interaction necessary for efficient Dvl recruitment to the plasma membrane upon Wnt stimulation of Fzd receptor and for the propagation of downstream signals. We conclude that the PCP pathway contributes significantly to the motility and hence the invasiveness of GBM cells, and that Nrdp1 acts as a negative regulator of PCP signaling by inhibiting Dvl through a novel polyubiquitination mechanism. We propose that the upregulation of core PCP components, together with the loss of the key negative regulator Nrdp1, act coordinately to promote GBM invasiveness and malignancy

The transcription factor Gli3 promotes B cell development in fetal liver through repression of Shh

Before birth, B cells develop in the fetal liver (FL). In this study, we show that Gli3 activity in the FL stroma is required for B cell development. In the Gli3-deficient FL, B cell development was reduced at multiple stages, whereas the Sonic hedgehog (Hh [Shh])–deficient FL showed increased B cell development, and Gli3 functioned to repress Shh transcription. Use of a transgenic Hh-reporter mouse showed that Shh signals directly to developing B cells and that Hh pathway activation was increased in developing B cells from Gli3-deficient FLs. RNA sequencing confirmed that Hh-mediated transcription is increased in B-lineage cells from Gli3-deficient FL and showed that these cells expressed reduced levels of B-lineage transcription factors and B cell receptor (BCR)/pre-BCR–signaling genes. Expression of the master regulators of B cell development Ebf1 and Pax5 was reduced in developing B cells from Gli3-deficient FL but increased in Shh-deficient FL, and in vitro Shh treatment or neutralization reduced or increased their expression, respectively

Testbed Description and Definition of the Tests

The H2020 What to do With the Wi-Fi Wild West (Wi-5) project combines research and innovation to propose a Software Defined Networking (SDN) architecture based on an integrated and coordinated set of smart Wi-Fi networking solutions. The resulting system will be able to efficiently reduce interference between neighbouring Access Points (APs) and provide optimised connectivity for new and emerging services. The project approach is expected to develop and incorporate a variety of different solutions, which will be made available through academic publications, in addition to other dissemination channels. In this document, we will present a description of the testbed to be used in the project and provide a definition of the tests to be done. First, the smart and cooperative solutions provided by the SDN based Wi-5 architecture will be briefly described. Next, we will define and explain the modular approach to be taken to model Wi-5 APs and the Wi-5 controller. According to this approach, we will describe the functionalities of both the Wi-5 AP that is modelled as a combination of the monitoring and network configuration modules, and the Wi-5 controller which is composed of the monitoring, decision, and network configuration modules. Then, we will define and explain the Wi5 integration strategy that will be utilized to integrate the smart and the cooperative functionalities in terms of assembly of the modules utilized to model the Wi-5 AP and the Wi-5 controller. Moreover, we will provide the definition of the performance metrics that will be utilized to evaluate and validate the performance of the monitoring, decision and network configuration modules with the use cases and performance requirements developed in Wi-5. This deliverable will focus on the definition and the explanation of the following two issues: Integration of the smart and cooperative functionalities provided by the SDN based Wi-5 architecture. Testing strategy to evaluate the performance of the Wi-5 architecture considering the use cases and requirements that focus on the selected scenarios

Patient safety in dentistry: development of a candidate 'never event' list for primary care

Introduction The 'never event' concept is often used in secondary care and refers to an agreed list of patient safety incidents that 'should not happen if the necessary preventative measures are in place'. Such an intervention may raise awareness of patient safety issues and inform team learning and system improvements in primary care dentistry. Objective To identify and develop a candidate never event list for primary care dentistry. Methods A literature review, eight workshops with dental practitioners and a modified Delphi with 'expert' groups were used to identify and agree candidate never events. Results Two-hundred and fifty dental practitioners suggested 507 never events, reduced to 27 distinct possibilities grouped across seven themes. Most frequently occurring themes were: 'checking medical history and prescribing' (119, 23.5%) and 'infection control and decontamination' (71, 14%). 'Experts' endorsed nine candidate never event statements with one graded as 'extreme risk' (failure to check past medical history) and four as 'high risk' (for example, extracting wrong tooth). Conclusion Consensus on a preliminary list of never events was developed. This is the first known attempt to develop this approach and an important step in determining its value to patient safety. Further work is necessary to develop the utility of this method

Final Specification of Cooperative Functionalities

This deliverable presents the specification of the final version of the Cooperative AP Functionalities that have been designed in the context of Work Package (WP) 4 of the Wi-5 project. In detail, we present a general cooperative framework that includes functionalities for a Radio Resource Management (RRM) algorithm, which provides channel assignment and transmit power adjustment strategies, an AP selection policy, which also provides horizontal handover, and a Radio Access Technology (RAT) selection solution for vertical handover. The RRM algorithm achieves an important improvement for network performance in terms of several parameters through the channel assignment approach and the transmit power adjustment. The AP selection solution extends the approach presented in deliverables D4.1 and D4.2 and is based on a centralised potential game, which optimises the distribution of the so-called Fittingness Factor (FF) parameter among the Wi-Fi users. Such a parameter efficiently matches the suitability of the available spectrum resource to the users’ application requirements. Moreover, the RAT selection solution extends the AP selection algorithm towards vertical handover functionality including 3G/4G networks. The assessment of the newest algorithms developed in the context of WP4 is illustrated in this deliverable through the analysis of several performance results in a simulated environment against other strategies found in the literature. Finally, the set of smart AP functionalities developed in the context of WP3, implemented on the Wi5 APs and on the Wi-5 controller, and their use in the proposed algorithms are illustrated. Specifically, this deliverable describes how these functionalities can enable the correct deployment of the proposed cooperative AP solutions in realistic scenarios. Therefore, the main novel contributions of this deliverable are i) the strengthening of the AP selection algorithm, ii) the design and assessment of a new algorithm for vertical handover and iii) the presentation of the finalised integration of the cooperative AP functionalities of the Wi-5 system