Mining Technological System's Performance Analysis

The mining production systems, both for underground and open pit extraction consist mainly in a string of equipment starting with the winning equipment (shearer loader, in case of underground longwall mining or bucket wheel excavator in case of open pit mining), hauling equipment (armored face conveyor in longwall mining or the on-board belt conveyor in case of excavators), main conveying equipment (belt conveyor in both cases), transfer devices, stock pile or bunker feeding equipment. This system of mainly serially connected elements is characterized by the throughput (overall amount of bulk coal respectively overburden rock produced), which is dependent on the functioning state of each involved equipment, and is strongly affected also by the process inherent variability due to the randomness of the involved processes (e.g. the cutting properties of the rock). In order to model and simulate such production systems, some probabilistic methods are applied arising from the artificial intelligence approach, involving unit operations and equipment, as the overall system as a whole, namely the Monte Carlo simulation, neural networks, fuzzy systems, and the Load Strength Interference methods. The results obtained are convergent and offer the opportunity for further developments of their application in the study of mining production systems

Urinary N-Acetyl-Beta-D-Glucosaminidase Activity in Rat Experimental Ischemic and Toxic Models of Acute Kidney Injury

The identification of a suitable prevention method which facilitates limiting the deleterious effects of acute kidney injuries is highly required. In order to identify a proper treatment for acute kidney injuries, a suitable experimental model that replicates the structural, metabolic and inflammatory lesions that occur in the natural acute injured kidney is highly necessary. Intense urinary NAG activity can be found in a variety of renal disease such as toxic nephropathies, ischemic renal injury following cardiac surgery or renal transplantation but also in glomerular disease especially in diabetic nephropathy. Rises in urinary NAG enzyme activity strongly suggests tubular cell damage and support NAG enzyme as a biomarker of renal tubular injury. The aim of this paper is to obtain a stable in vivo acute kidney injury experimental model, in Wistar, rats and to evaluate the urinary activity of N-acetyl-β-D-glucosaminidase (NAG) enzyme, blood levels of urea and creatinine and microstructural renal alterations induced by ischemia/reperfusion injury respectively gentamicin nephrotoxicity. For this purpose we have used a rat experimental model. Adult male Wistar rats weighing 250-300 g were randomly divided into 3 groups with 8 rats in each group. Group 1 served as a model for the renal ischemia/reperfusion injury experiment, group 2 served for toxic kidney injury experimental model and group 3 served as control group. All individuals in both groups 1 and 2 presented marked elevations in blood urea and creatinine at the moment of euthanasia (day 3 for group 1 and day 9 for group 2) compared to the control group where biochemical values remained within normal limits. Urine analysis of both group 1 and 2 showed marked urinary NAG index activity which suggests acute tubular injury, suggestion confirmed by histological evaluation of the renal parenchyma sampled from this subject

Zero Bias Power Detector Circuits based on MoS2_2 Field Effect Transistors on Wafer-Scale Flexible Substrates

We demonstrate the design, fabrication, and characterization of wafer-scale, zero-bias power detectors based on two-dimensional MoS$_2$ field effect transistors (FETs). The MoS$_2$ FETs are fabricated using a wafer-scale process on 8 $\mu$m thick polyimide film, which in principle serves as flexible substrate. The performances of two CVD-MoS$_2$ sheets, grown with different processes and showing different thicknesses, are analyzed and compared from the single device fabrication and characterization steps to the circuit level. The power detector prototypes exploit the nonlinearity of the transistors above the cut-off frequency of the devices. The proposed detectors are designed employing a transistor model based on measurement results. The fabricated circuits operate in Ku-band between 12 and 18 GHz, with a demonstrated voltage responsivity of 45 V/W at 18 GHz in the case of monolayer MoS2 and 104 V/W at 16 GHz in the case of multilayer MoS$_2$, both achieved without applied DC bias. They are the best performing power detectors fabricated on flexible substrate reported to date. The measured dynamic range exceeds 30 dB outperforming other semiconductor technologies like silicon complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) circuits and GaAs Schottky diodes.Comment: 28 page

Imaging electronic states on topological semimetals using scanning tunneling microscopy

Following the intense studies on topological insulators, significant efforts have recently been devoted to the search for gapless topological systems. These materials not only broaden the topological classification of matter but also provide a condensed matter realization of various relativistic particles and phenomena previously discussed mainly in high energy physics. Weyl semimetals host massless, chiral, low-energy excitations in the bulk electronic band structure, whereas a symmetry protected pair of Weyl fermions gives rise to massless Dirac fermions. We employed scanning tunneling microscopy/spectroscopy to explore the behavior of electronic states both on the surface and in the bulk of topological semimetal phases. By mapping the quasiparticle interference and emerging Landau levels at high magnetic field in Dirac semimetals Cd$_3$As$_2$ and Na$_3$Bi, we observed extended Dirac-like bulk electronic bands. Quasiparticle interference imaged on Weyl semimetal TaAs demonstrated the predicted momentum dependent delocalization of Fermi arc surface states in the vicinity of the surface-projected Weyl nodes

The Eighth Central European Conference "Chemistry towards Biology": snapshot

The Eighth Central European Conference "Chemistry towards Biology" was held in Brno, Czech Republic, on 28 August – 1 September 2016The Eighth Central European Conference "Chemistry towards Biology" was held in Brno, Czech Republic, on 28 August-1 September 2016 to bring together experts in biology, chemistry and design of bioactive compounds; promote the exchange of scientific results, methods and ideas; and encourage cooperation between researchers from all over the world. The topics of the conference covered "Chemistry towards Biology", meaning that the event welcomed chemists working on biology-related problems, biologists using chemical methods, and students and other researchers of the respective areas that fall within the common scope of chemistry and biology. The authors of this manuscript are plenary speakers and other participants of the symposium and members of their research teams. The following summary highlights the major points/topics of the meeting

The burden of mental disorders, substance use disorders and self-harm among young people in Europe, 1990–2019: Findings from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019

Summary Background Mental health is a public health issue for European young people, with great heterogeneity in resource allocation. Representative population-based studies are needed. The Global Burden of Disease (GBD) Study 2019 provides internationally comparable information on trends in the health status of populations and changes in the leading causes of disease burden over time. Methods Prevalence, incidence, Years Lived with Disability (YLDs) and Years of Life Lost (YLLs) from mental disorders (MDs), substance use disorders (SUDs) and self-harm were estimated for young people aged 10-24 years in 31 European countries. Rates per 100,000 population, percentage changes in 1990-2019, 95% Uncertainty Intervals (UIs), and correlations with Sociodemographic Index (SDI), were estimated. Findings In 2019, rates per 100,000 population were 16,983 (95% UI 12,823 – 21,630) for MDs, 3,891 (3,020 - 4,905) for SUDs, and 89·1 (63·8 - 123·1) for self-harm. In terms of disability, anxiety contributed to 647·3 (432–912·3) YLDs, while in terms of premature death, self-harm contributed to 319·6 (248·9–412·8) YLLs, per 100,000 population. Over the 30 years studied, YLDs increased in eating disorders (14·9%;9·4-20·1) and drug use disorders (16·9%;8·9-26·3), and decreased in idiopathic developmental intellectual disability (–29·1%;23·8-38·5). YLLs decreased in self-harm (–27·9%;38·3-18·7). Variations were found by sex, age-group and country. The burden of SUDs and self-harm was higher in countries with lower SDI, MDs were associated with SUDs. Interpretation Mental health conditions represent an important burden among young people living in Europe. National policies should strengthen mental health, with a specific focus on young people.publishedVersio

Structural genomics is the largest contributor of novel structural leverage

The Protein Structural Initiative (PSI) at the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) is funding four large-scale centers for structural genomics (SG). These centers systematically target many large families without structural coverage, as well as very large families with inadequate structural coverage. Here, we report a few simple metrics that demonstrate how successfully these efforts optimize structural coverage: while the PSI-2 (2005-now) contributed more than 8% of all structures deposited into the PDB, it contributed over 20% of all novel structures (i.e. structures for protein sequences with no structural representative in the PDB on the date of deposition). The structural coverage of the protein universe represented by today’s UniProt (v12.8) has increased linearly from 1992 to 2008; structural genomics has contributed significantly to the maintenance of this growth rate. Success in increasing novel leverage (defined in Liu et al. in Nat Biotechnol 25:849–851, 2007) has resulted from systematic targeting of large families. PSI’s per structure contribution to novel leverage was over 4-fold higher than that for non-PSI structural biology efforts during the past 8 years. If the success of the PSI continues, it may just take another ~15 years to cover most sequences in the current UniProt database