1,508 research outputs found
Alterações nos estoques de carbono do solo após conversão de pastagem em plantios de eucalipto.
Resumo
Duration learning for analysis of nanopore ionic current blockades
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Ionic current blockade signal processing, for use in nanopore detection, offers a promising new way to analyze single molecule properties, with potential implications for DNA sequencing. The alpha-Hemolysin transmembrane channel interacts with a translocating molecule in a nontrivial way, frequently evidenced by a complex ionic flow blockade pattern. Typically, recorded current blockade signals have several levels of blockade, with various durations, all obeying a fixed statistical profile for a given molecule. Hidden Markov Model (HMM) based duration learning experiments on artificial two-level Gaussian blockade signals helped us to identify proper modeling framework. We then apply our framework to the real multi-level DNA hairpin blockade signal.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The identified upper level blockade state is observed with durations that are geometrically distributed (consistent with an a physical decay process for remaining in any given state). We show that mixture of convolution chains of geometrically distributed states is better for presenting multimodal long-tailed duration phenomena. Based on learned HMM profiles we are able to classify 9 base-pair DNA hairpins with accuracy up to 99.5% on signals from same-day experiments.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>We have demonstrated several implementations for <it>de novo </it>estimation of duration distribution probability density function with HMM framework and applied our model topology to the real data. The proposed design could be handy in molecular analysis based on nanopore current blockade signal.</p
Coral Disease and Health Workshop: Coral Histopathology II
The health and continued existence of coral reef ecosystems are threatened by an increasing array of environmental and anthropogenic impacts. Coral disease is one of the prominent causes of increased mortality among reefs globally, particularly in the Caribbean. Although over 40 different coral diseases and syndromes have been reported
worldwide, only a few etiological agents have been confirmed; most pathogens remain unknown and the dynamics of disease transmission, pathogenicity and mortality are not
understood. Causal relationships have been documented for only a few of the coral diseases, while new syndromes continue to emerge. Extensive field observations by coral
biologists have provided substantial documentation of a plethora of new pathologies, but our understanding, however, has been limited to descriptions of gross lesions with names reflecting these observations (e.g., black band, white band, dark spot). To determine etiology, we must equip coral diseases scientists with basic biomedical knowledge and specialized training in areas such as histology, cell biology and pathology. Only through
combining descriptive science with mechanistic science and employing the synthesis epizootiology provides will we be able to gain insight into causation and become equipped to handle the pending crisis.
One of the critical challenges faced by coral disease researchers is to establish a framework to systematically study coral pathologies drawing from the field of diagnostic
medicine and pathology and using generally accepted nomenclature. This process began in April 2004, with a workshop titled Coral Disease and Health Workshop: Developing Diagnostic Criteria co-convened by the Coral Disease and Health Consortium (CDHC), a working group organized under the auspices of the U.S. Coral Reef Task Force, and the International Registry for Coral Pathology (IRCP). The workshop was hosted by the U.S. Geological Survey, National Wildlife Health Center (NWHC) in Madison, Wisconsin and was focused on gross morphology and disease signs observed in the field. A resounding recommendation from the histopathologists participating in the workshop was the urgent need to develop diagnostic criteria that are suitable to move from gross observations to morphological diagnoses based on evaluation of microscopic anatomy. (PDF contains 92 pages
Multi-wavelength observations of afterglow of GRB 080319B and the modeling constraints
We present observations of the afterglow of GRB 080319B at optical, mm and
radio frequencies from a few hours to 67 days after the burst. Present
observations along with other published multi-wavelength data have been used to
study the light-curves and spectral energy distributions of the burst
afterglow. The nature of this brightest cosmic explosion has been explored
based on the observed properties and it's comparison with the afterglow models.
Our results show that the observed features of the afterglow fits equally good
with the Inter Stellar Matter and the Stellar Wind density profiles of the
circum-burst medium. In case of both density profiles, location of the maximum
synchrotron frequency is below optical and the value of cooling break
frequency is below rays, s after the burst. Also, the
derived value of the Lorentz factor at the time of naked eye brightness is
with the corresponding blast wave size of cm. The
numerical fit to the multi-wavelength afterglow data constraints the values of
physical parameters and the emission mechanism of the burst.Comment: 8 Pages, 3 Figures, Accepted for publication to Astronomy and
Astrophysics on 02/04/200
Infrared Spectroscopic Study of a Selection of AGB and Post-AGB Stars
We present here near-infrared spectroscopy in the H and K bands of a
selection of nearly 80 stars that belong to various AGB types, namely S type, M
type and SR type. This sample also includes 16 Post-AGB (PAGB) stars. From
these spectra, we seek correlations between the equivalent widths of some
important spectral signatures and the infrared colors that are indicative of
mass loss. Repeated spectroscopic observations were made on some PAGB stars to
look for spectral variations. We also analyse archival SPITZER mid-infrared
spectra on a few PAGB stars to identify spectral features due to PAH molecules
providing confirmation of the advanced stage of their evolution. Further, we
model the SEDs of the stars (compiled from archival data) and compare
circumstellar dust parameters and mass loss rates in different types.
Our near-infrared spectra show that in the case of M and S type stars, the
equivalent widths of the CO(3-0) band are moderately correlated with infrared
colors, suggesting a possible relationship with mass loss processes. A few PAGB
stars revealed short term variability in their spectra, indicating episodic
mass loss: the cooler stars showed in CO first overtone bands and the hotter
ones showed in HI Brackett lines. Our spectra on IRAS 19399+2312 suggest that
it is a transition object. From the SPITZER spectra, there seems to be a
dependence between the spectral type of the PAGB stars and the strength of the
PAH features. Modelling of SEDs showed among the M and PAGB stars that the
higher the mass loss rates, the higher the [K-12] colour in our sample.Comment: 14 pages; accepted in MNRAS, 200
Shorter Disease Duration Is Associated With Higher Rates of Response to Vedolizumab in Patients With Crohn\u27s Disease But Not Ulcerative Colitis.
BACKGROUND & AIMS: Patients with Crohn\u27s disease (CD), but not ulcerative colitis (UC), of shorter duration have higher rates of response to tumor necrosis factor (TNF) antagonists than patients with longer disease duration. Little is known about the association between disease duration and response to other biologic agents. We aimed to evaluate response of patients with CD or UC to vedolizumab, stratified by disease duration.
METHODS: We analyzed data from a retrospective, multicenter, consortium of patients with CD (n = 650) or UC (n = 437) treated with vedolizumab from May 2014 through December 2016. Using time to event analyses, we compared rates of clinical remission, corticosteroid-free remission (CSFR), and endoscopic remission between patients with early-stage (≤2 years duration) and later-stage (\u3e2 years) CD or UC. We used Cox proportional hazards models to identify factors associated with outcomes.
RESULTS: Within 6 months initiation of treatment with vedolizumab, significantly higher proportions of patients with early-stage CD, vs later-stage CD, achieved clinical remission (38% vs 23%), CSFR (43% vs 14%), and endoscopic remission (29% vs 13%) (P \u3c .05 for all comparisons). After adjusting for disease-related factors including previous exposure to TNF antagonists, patients with early-stage CD were significantly more likely than patients with later-stage CD to achieve clinical remission (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR], 1.59; 95% CI, 1.02-2.49), CSFR (aHR, 3.39; 95% CI, 1.66-6.92), and endoscopic remission (aHR, 1.90; 95% CI, 1.06-3.39). In contrast, disease duration was not a significant predictor of response among patients with UC.
CONCLUSIONS: Patients with CD for 2 years or less are significantly more likely to achieve a complete response, CSFR, or endoscopic response to vedolizumab than patients with longer disease duration. Disease duration does not associate with response vedolizumab in patients with UC
The first IRAM/PdBI polarimetric millimeter survey of active galactic nuclei. II. Activity and properties of individual sources
We present an analysis of the linear polarization of six active galactic
nuclei - 0415+379 (3C~111), 0507+179, 0528+134 (OG+134), 0954+658, 1418+546
(OQ+530), and 1637+574 (OS+562). Our targets were monitored from 2007 to 2011
in the observatory-frame frequency range 80-253 GHz, corresponding to a
rest-frame frequency range 88-705 GHz. We find average degrees of polarization
m_L ~ 2-7%; this indicates that the polarization signals are effectively
averaged out by the emitter geometries. We see indication for fairly strong
shocks and/or complex, variable emission region geometries in our sources, with
compression factors 10 deg. An
analysis of correlations between source fluxes and polarization parameter
points out special cases: the presence of (at least) two distinct emission
regions with different levels of polarization (for 0415+379) as well as
emission from a single, predominant component (for 0507+179 and 1418+546).
Regarding the evolution of flux and polarization, we find good agreement
between observations and the signal predicted by "oblique shock in jet"
scenarios in one source (1418+546). We attempt to derive rotation measures for
all sources, leading to actual measurements for two AGN and upper limits for
three sources. We derive values of RM = -39,000 +/- 1,000 (stat) +/- 13,000
(sys) rad/m^2 and RM = 420,000 +/- 10,000 (stat) +/- 110,000 (sys) rad/m^2 for
1418+546 and 1637+574, respectively; these are the highest values reported to
date for AGN. These values indicate magnetic field strengths of the order
~0.0001 G. For 0415+379, 0507+179, and 0954+658 we derive upper limits |RM| <
17,000 rad/m^2. From the relation |RM| ~ nu^a we find a = 1.9 +/- 0.3 for
1418+546, in good agreement with a = 2 as expected for a spherical or conical
outflow.Comment: 23 pages, 8 figures, 4 tables. Accepted by Astronomy and
Astrophysics. Minor language editing, one missing reference (Macquart et al.
2006) adde
- …