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We propose a novel stochastic algorithm that randomly samples entire rows and columns of the matrix as a way to approximate an arbitrary matrix function using the power series expansion. This contrasts with existing Monte Carlo methods, which only work with one entry at a time, resulting in a significantly better convergence rate than the original approach. To assess the applicability of our method, we compute the subgraph centrality and total communicability of several large networks. In all benchmarks analyzed so far, the performance of our method was significantly superior to the competition, being able to scale up to 64 CPU cores with remarkable efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Digital twins transform agriculture with three-dimensional replicas of governable physical objects and intelligent collaboration for a sustainable bioeconomy. However, their success depends on (1) scaling up resiliency in industry-ready solutions, (2) evaluating performance in near real-time monitoring of the agri-food infrastructure, and (3) delivering design guidelines and field instantiations to inspire the practitioners. This work addresses these challenges in a two-year-long design science research, aiming to reach industrial demonstration technology readiness (TRL7) in a vertical farm structure supported by digital twin technology. Vertical farms pose new challenges for agriculture, taking advantage of three-dimensional productive spaces that change over time. Furthermore, digital twins reveal the potential to warrant more rational use of resources, food protection, prevention of disruptions, and food product traceability. For design-time scalability, this research defines the digital twin requirements for vertical farms and identifies the necessary conditions for the operational environment. For run-time scalability, the study reveals a physical and digital infrastructure that managers can use to develop their vision for vertical farming in more uncertain environments, demanding resiliency and near real-time optimization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Glyphosate-based herbicides can be harmful to the environment and human health. Especially in developing countries, these herbicides are often used indiscriminately in agricultural and urban areas. Here, we optimized a simple and efficient flow injection-based spectrophotometric method to monitor environmentally relevant glyphosate concentrations in surface waters. The method was then used to assess the environmental mobility of glyphosate in Southeast Brazil by monitoring surface runoff from experimental agricultural soil plots that received glyphosate applications in 2015. Further, water samples from low-order streams were collected in five agricultural, urban, and natural areas, as well as from the 5th-order Rio das Mortes during the rainy season. Finally, 20 drinking water sources were sampled in urban, rural, and agricultural areas. Runoff from reference plots without glyphosate application showed concentrations below the method's detection limit of 0.49 mg.L−1, whereas runoff from plots with standard glyphosate application had concentrations between 1.24 and 6.1 mg.L−1. Similarly, concentrations in natural stream water were below the detection limit, whereas agricultural streams had concentrations of up to 3.7 mg.L−1 (average: 0.97 mg.L−1). In an agricultural stream monitored weekly, concentration peaks were observed after glyphosate applications by farmers, and concentrations were correlated to stream discharge. Urban streams had concentrations of up to 5.8 mg.L−1 (average: 2.6 mg.L−1), but samples from the catchment's major river were mostly below detection limits, illustrating the dilution of urban and agricultural runoff in high-order rivers. In the sampled drinking water resources, glyphosate pollution occurred mainly in the rainy season, with detectable concentrations between 0.5 and 8.7 mg.L−1 in 80% of the sampled drinking water sources. In conclusion, our results suggest considerable environmental mobility of glyphosate in the studied Southeast Brazilian catchment. Substantial pollution, well above national and international limits, was detected in surface runoff, stream water, and drinking water resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electricity is a fundamental resource for modern society. However, some threats are faced by electrical power distribution systems, which are responsible for delivering electricity to end consumers. Analysing how much time these hazards will threaten these systems, causing failure events, is an essential area of study. Through statistical methods, it is possible to study this behaviour from time until failure, as well as to observe the influence of variables at this time, providing models to predict when a failure event will occur. In this study, reliability analysis regression techniques are used on real data, constructing a model for all failures and for different groups of failures, using nonparametric and parametric methods to estimate the reliability and cumulative hazard curves. An analysis of the failure causes directly linked to weather events, using six weather variables, is also made. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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This article presents a standardized analysis of failures in wind turbines concerning the main technologies classified in the literature, as well as identifies critical components and trends for the most modern wind farm facilities, which seek greater efficiency, robustness and reliability to mitigate failures and reduce wind turbine downtime. Through the application of Pareto's rule, a set of components has been identified; although these provide little in terms of fault contribution, they do account for almost all downtime when they occur. Wind turbines fail around twice every year with an average downtime of 150 h per failure. The gearbox is one of the most critical components in terms of downtime that represents generation losses, where the faults in the frequency converter are directly influenced by the thermal cycle of the semiconductor switches in normal operation and accentuated by transient load fluctuations during the generation process. In order to identify the optimum point for preventive interventions that do not impact the overall maintenance cost, at the end a maintenance cost of a 2 MW wind turbine is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Hydrogeology Journal is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Introduction: Genitourinary tuberculosis is the fourth most common cause of extrapulmonary tuberculosis, although often underestimated by clinicians due to its rare and non-specific symptoms. One of the disease's complications is infertility. Although Portugal is one of the European countries with the highest prevalence of tuberculosis, its impact on Portuguese female fertility is unknown. With this study, we intend to evaluate the prevalence of genital tuberculosis, its presenting symptoms, and pregnancy outcomes in infertile women followed in a Portuguese tertiary hospital. Methods: Retrospective and descriptive study, performed using an electronic database and consultation of clinical files. Studied population: infertile women followed from 2000 until 2019 at the reproductive unit of a Portuguese tertiary hospital, who underwent endometrial biopsy/curettage in the context of their etiological investigation. The diagnosis of genital tuberculosis was based on histological criteria. Results: Over the 19 years, 2653 endometrial specimens were analyzed. Pathological evaluation was positive for tuberculosis in 19 cases (0.72%). There was a decrease in new diagnoses throughout the observation period. Conclusion: Despite being one of the European countries with the highest prevalence of tuberculosis, genital TB does not appear to have a significant impact on the etiology of female infertility in Portugal. Nevertheless, it is a diagnosis to be considered in selected patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intoxication by heavy metals such as methylmercury (MeHg) is recognized as a global health problem, with strong implications in central nervous system pathologies. Most of these neuropathological conditions involve vascular, neurotransmitter recycling, and oxidative balance disruption leading to accelerated decline in fine balance, and learning, memory, and visual processes as main outcomes. Besides neurons, astrocytes are involved in virtually all the brain processes and perform important roles in neurological response following injuries. Due to astrocytes' strategic functions in brain homeostasis, these cells became the subject of several studies on MeHg intoxication. The most heterogenous glial cells, astrocytes, are composed of plenty of receptors and transporters to dialogue with neurons and other cells and to monitor extracellular environment responding tightly through fluctuation of cytosolic ions. The overall toxicity of MeHg might be determined on the basis of the balance between MeHg-mediated injury to neurons and protective responses from astrocytes. Although the role of neurons in MeHg intoxication is relatively well-established, the role of the astrocytes is only beginning to be understood. In this review, we update the information on astroglial modulation of the MeHg-induced neurotoxicity, providing remarks on their protective and deleterious roles and insights for future studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Elastic optical networks allow for a division of the optical spectrum into frequency slots, which can be combined to create channels with bandwidth defined by demand. Their flexibility provides greater spectral efficiency when compared with traditional optical networks with fixed grids. Traffic grooming strategies allow for even more efficiency in the use of network resources, reducing the number of guard bands and the utilization of transmitters and receivers. This work proposes a mechanism that influences the RMLSA algorithms causing a controlled level of spacing between the lightpaths. This makes it possible to expand lightpaths in the future to fulfill new customer requests through traffic grooming. The proposed mechanism does not require the use of specific traffic grooming or RMLSA algorithms, and it can be used in conjunction with existing solutions or future solutions. The experiments carried out show that the proposed mechanism reduces the bandwidth blocking ratio and the number of necessary transceivers, and also increases the request–lightpath ratio and energy efficiency in the network. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Migraine is a multifactorial disorder that is more frequent (two to four times) in women than in men. In recent years, our research group has focused on the role of neurotransmitter release and its regulation. Neurexin (NRXN2) is one of the components of the synaptic vesicle machinery, responsible for connecting intracellular fusion proteins and synaptic vesicles. Our aim was to continue exploring the role and interaction of proteins involved in the control and promotion of neurotransmission in migraine susceptibility. Methods: A case-control study was performed comprising 183 migraineurs (148 females and 35 males) and 265 migraine-free controls (202 females and 63 males). Tagging single nucleotide polymorphisms of NRXN2 were genotyped to assess the association between NRXN2 and migraine susceptibility. The χ2 test was used to compare allele frequencies in cases and controls and odds ratios were estimated with 95% confidence intervals. Haplotype frequencies were compared between groups. Gene-gene interactions were analysed using the Multifactor Dimensionality Reduction v2.0. Results: We found a statistically significant interaction model (p = 0.009) in the female group between the genotypes CG of rs477138 (NRXN2) and CT of rs1158605 (GABRE). This interaction was validated by logistic regression, showing a significant risk effect [OR = 4.78 (95%CI: 1.76–12.97)] after a Bonferroni correction. Our data also supports a statistically significant interaction model (p = 0.011) in the female group between the GG of rs477138 in NRXN2 and, the rs2244325's GG genotype and rs2998250's CC genotype of CASK. This interaction was also validated by logistic regression, with a protective effect [OR = 0.08 (95%CI: 0.01–0.75)]. A weak interaction model was found between NRXN2-SYT1. We have not found any statistically significant allelic or haplotypic associations between NRXN2 and migraine susceptibility. Conclusions: This study unravels, for the first time, the gene-gene interactions between NRXN2, GABRE - a GABAA-receptor - and CASK, importantly it shows the synergetic effect between those genes and its relation with migraine susceptibility. These gene interactions, which may be a part of a larger network, can potentially help us in better understanding migraine aetiology and in development of new therapeutic approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Concentration of nitrates in groundwater at the Nitrate Vulnerable zone of Faro, south Portugal, reaches values as high as 300 mg/l; therefore, according to the EU Water Framework Directive, mitigation measures need to be implemented. A Managed Aquifer Recharge scheme is proposed to accelerate the dilution and natural discharge of nitrates from the system. Source water availability is estimated from rainfall intercepted at existing greenhouses. Within the highest nitrate concentration area, estimated water availability for injection in existing wells is 1.50 hm3/year, a significant volume which represents approximately 15% of the aquifer direct recharge. It is proposed this is recharged to the aquifer through existing large-diameter traditional wells that are no longer used for abstraction. Injection test results suggest that the likely infiltration capacity of such wells is more than sufficient to allow collection of 95% of daily rainfall events. The effect of injecting this volume in the aquifer was estimated with the support of a 3D numerical groundwater flow and transport model. Results show considerable improvement in nitrate concentrations in the study area, in certain locations decreasing up to 70 mg/l by 2027. The model results predict a decrease in the number of nitrate threshold exceedances in observation points, from 33 to 30 by 2027 and 14 to 9 by 2040. It is likely that this measure may have a positive effect on other issues identified in the area, mostly related with quantity problems and seawater intrusion. Notwithstanding, issues including landowner support, clogging, conditions of greenhouses and wells, water quality, and climate change impacts will require further consideration to develop a successful and beneficial MAR scheme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the perspective of students in the undergraduate management program of a Brazilian public university regarding the notion of sustainability. A quantitative survey was carried out, and data were collected through triangulation by combining documentary research and submission of a questionnaire to a sample of 233 students (30.98% of the population size) from both shifts of the course (morning and evening). Data analysis was carried out through the SPSS software and the use of descriptive statistics as well as nonparametric tests. The synthesis of the results reveals that, according to the respondents’ perspective, the classic notion of sustainability, which entails an equitable treatment of the economic, social–cultural, and environmental dimensions, takes different positions when comparing the expected behavior and the actual behavior. In the first case, the notion of sustainability is oriented by the morals of integrity with long-term orientation and, in the second, it is guided by the morals of opportunism with a short-term orientation. The results indicate that the introduction of the topic of “sustainability” in the undergraduate management program deserves rethinking, especially through a holistic approach of integration and synthesis. Additionally, the results elicit reflections on the process of managers’ education, especially because there is evidence that the profit-targeted, functionalist educational model still prevails over the logic of a sustainability-targeted education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Streamflow dynamics are sensitive to both climate variability and land use change. However, estimating their separate and combined effects remains a research challenge. In South Africa, streamflow dynamics are important not only for irrigated agriculture but also for many rural communities that depend on streamflow for domestic water supply. In this paper, we analysed the effects of pine, wattle and eucalyptus plantation cover change vis-à-vis the effects of inter-annual climate variability on streamflow dynamics of the Upper Umvoti River in South Africa from 1994 to 2016. We modelled inter-annual variability in streamflow by precipitation, temperature and plantation cover using the Bayesian inference. We mapped plantation cover from Landsat satellite imagery. We found strong evidence for an interaction between temperature range and plantation cover net change on streamflow. Specifically, the plantation effect weakened under conditions of high-temperature range anomalies. We explain this interaction with a shift in soil water repellency and interception capacity within the plantation area under a changing temperature range, with important implications for the formation of surface runoff. Previous studies have assumed that the effects of climate variability and plantation cover change on streamflow dynamics are independent. Our results call this assumption into question. Hence, climate and land cover interdependencies should be accounted for in future statistical and process-based modelling studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Hydrogeology Journal is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

A full computer-based methodology is proposed for electromagnetic transient simulations in power cables characterized by an arbitrary cross-section geometry. The frequency-dependent parameters of the cables are calculated using finite element method, and the three-phase cable modeling is carried out using modal decoupling and fitting techniques. The multiconductor representation of a sector-shaped cable is possible from the calculation of a constant and real modal transformation matrix, resulting four independent propagation modes (three phases and cable shield), which are modeled from the inclusion of frequency effect in the classic Bergeron method. The currents and voltages are expressed as a system of differential equations, which are presented as state equations and solved using numerical integration methods. The proposed modeling technique allows the inclusion of time-variable and nonlinear elements during electromagnetic transient simulations in the time domain, which is not possible from frequency-domain models that are solved using inverse transforms. The proposed model is validated from results simulated using numerical Laplace transform and exact modal transformation matrix for calculation of phase currents and voltages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a fault identification system for doubly fed induction generator. The proposed system is designed to identify single-phase faults and load switching events on an isolated load. Firstly, the system preprocess the stator line current data by the fast Fourier transform (FFT). In order to reduce the dimensionality of the FFT output data, the principal component analysis method is used. The fault identification stage is based on artificial neural network (ANN). Also, a post-processing is employed in order to increase the network reliability, which reduces the error of ANN. The proposed system is simulated and experimentally validated on different voltage, speed and load conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Proving equivalence of programs has several important applications, including algorithm recognition, regression checking, compiler optimization verification and validation, and information flow checking. Despite being a topic with so many important applications, program equivalence checking has seen little advances over the past decades due to its inherent (high) complexity. In this paper, we propose, to the best of our knowledge, the first semi-algorithm for the automatic verification of partial equivalence of two programs over the combined theory of uninterpreted function symbols and integer arithmetic (UF+IA). The proposed algorithm supports, in particular, programs with nested loops. The crux of the technique is a transformation of uninterpreted functions (UFs) applications into integer polynomials, which enables the precise summarization of loops with UF applications using recurrences. The equivalence checking algorithm then proceeds on loop-free, integer only programs. We implemented the proposed technique in CORK, a tool that automatically verifies the correctness of compiler optimizations, and we show that it can prove more optimizations correct than state-of-the-art techniques. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Hydrogeology Journal is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Since human beings have limited perceptual abilities, in many digital signal processing (DSP) applications, e.g., image and video processing, the outputs do not need to be computed accurately. Instead, their computation can be approximated so that the area, delay, and/or power dissipation of the design can be reduced. This paper presents an approximation algorithm, called aura, for the multiplierless design of the constant matrix vector multiplication (CMVM) which is a ubiquitous operation in DSP systems. aura aims to tune the constants such that the resulting matrix leads to a CMVM design which requires the fewest adders/subtractors, satisfying the given error constraints. This paper also introduces its modified version, called aura-dc, which can reduce the delay of the CMVM operation with a small increase in the number of adders/subtractors. Experimental results show that the proposed algorithms yield significant reductions in the number of adders/subtractors with respect to the original realizations without violating the error constraints, and consequently lead to CMVM designs with less area, delay, and power dissipation. Moreover, they can generate alternative CMVM designs under different error constraints, enabling a designer to choose the one that fits best in an application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work presents a sliding mode controller, applied to the three-phase induction motor using indirect field-oriented control technique. A possible approach for chattering reduction with high degree of robustness is based on the switching saturation function, although it presents steady-state error. This paper, therefore, proposes an integral sliding mode controller with a new anti-windup, which has low overshoot and no steady-state error. In addition, an approach using a switching sigmoid function is presented. The motor performance is verified by means of numeric simulations and experimental tests with load disturbances. The proposed controller presents better results when compared to other conventional sliding mode controllers and a tuned PI controller. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors describe a 3-year-old female, diagnosed with GLUT1 deficiency Syndrome, with a previously unreported mutation in exon 7 of the SLC2A1 gene: c.968_972 + 3del P. (Val323Alafs*53), characterized by a classic phenotypic of acquired microcephaly, developmental delay, ataxia, spasticity, and epilepsy. Ketogenic diet was started at the age of 30 months with epilepsy improvement. She presented paroxysmal ocular movements in the first 12 months of life, recently defined as “aberrant gaze saccades”, that are present in the early phase of visual system development, being one of the first disease signs, but easily disregarded. Recognizing these particular ocular movements would allow an early diagnosis, followed by ketogenic diet implementation, improving significantly the prognosis and the neurological development of those children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Finite impulse response (FIR) filtering is a ubiquitous operation in digital signal processing systems and is generally implemented in full custom circuits due to high-speed and low-power design requirements. The complexity of an FIR filter is dominated by the multiplication of a large number of filter coefficients by the filter input or its time-shifted versions. Over the years, many high-level synthesis algorithms and filter architectures have been introduced in order to design FIR filters efficiently. This article reviews how constant multiplications can be designed using shifts and adders/subtractors that are maximally shared through a high-level synthesis algorithm based on some optimization criteria. It also presents different forms of FIR filters, namely, direct, transposed, and hybrid and shows how constant multiplications in each filter form can be realized under a shift-adds architecture. More importantly, it explores the impact of the multiplierless realization of each filter form on area, delay, and power dissipation of both custom (ASIC) and reconfigurable (FPGA) circuits by carrying out experiments with different bitwidths of filter input, design libraries, reconfigurable target devices, and optimization criteria in high-level synthesis algorithms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The high concordance rate of migraine in monozygotic twin pairs has long been recognised. In the current study, we present a monozygotic twin pair discordant for familial hemiplegic migraine (FHM). Case presentations: We evaluated 12 adult family members in 2012. The twin pair was separately examined by neurologists at different time points. Mutation screening was performed for known FHM-related genes. The monozygosity of the twins was verified. Eleven individuals had a history of migraine or paroxysmal neurological symptoms, including four patients with motor aura. No mutations were detected in the CACNA1A, ATP1A2, SCN1A, PRRT2 or NOTCH3 genes. The monozygotic twin sisters, aged 52, were discordant for age of onset, motor aura and neuropsychological aura (forced thinking). Overall, the family members presented a wide range of phenotypical features. Conclusions: Familial hemiplegic migraine is a monogenic disorder that is distinct from migraine with typical aura. However, in certain families with motor aura, such as this one, it is possible that the most severe phenotype is caused by an unlikely combination of polygenic traits and non-genetic factors. In these kindreds, we propose that hemiplegic aura is only a severe and complex form of typical aura. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tall grass tussocks dominate the Andean highlands above 3,800 m a.s.l., with often no other life form contributing significantly to standing crop biomass and productivity, thus, representing the dominant source of fodder for camelid grazing. To assess the productivity of these semi-arid tropical rangelands (350 mm of annual rainfall confined to a 4-5 months rainy season) is challenging, given the 'evergreen' nature of leaves and the unknown periodicity of leaf growth. The aim of this study was to explore the seasonal course of new foliage formation, foliage duration, and the response of leaf elongation and emergence to simulated llama grazing (clipping). The repeated census of Festuca orthophylla leaves in the Sajama National Park at 4,250 m elevation (Bolivia) provided clear evidence that leaf production is not confined to the rainy season, but also occurs during the dry season. Our data revealed a mean leaf longevity of 141 days for peripheral control tillers (unclipped) and 169 days for central control tillers. Leaves grow slower and reach shorter length during the dry season compared to the rainy season, and peripheral tillers are always shorter but more vigorous than central tillers (shorter intervals between the emergence of two leaves). There was no stimulation of leaf growth in tillers that were clipped (no overcompensation). Overall, this study suggests ca. two-fold replacement of foliage per year. We explain the continued growth in the dry season by, on average, six times greater soil area occupied by roots than by the leaf canopy, and thus, much greater water availability per tussock than meteorological data would suggest. Wide spacing of tussocks and a large root-sphere mitigate the impact of periodic drought on tissue formation, providing year-round forage for llamas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effect of the calcination procedure on the decomposition of the [Pt(NH)] complex in a cesium-containing NaX zeolite was studied by thermal decomposition accompanied by mass spectrometry and diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, as well as electron paramagnetic resonance and infrared spectroscopy. The decomposition of the complex took place in two steps. Under oxygen, the [Pt(NH)] complex was first converted into the [Pt(NH)] complex in the first step, with predominant nitrogen release. In the second step, corresponding to the decomposition of the remaining two amine ligands, NO was also formed and adsorbed. Oxygen paramagnetic species were also observed. Under He, the decomposition also occurred in two steps with H release. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Neuropsychological symptoms are rare in familial hemiplegic migraine (FHM). There are no reports of psychotic symptoms in FHM type 2 ( ATP1A2). We examined a family with a FHM phenotype due to a M731T mutation in ATP1A2. A 10-year follow-up allowed us to observe complex auras, including psychotic symptoms in two siblings. Case report: Male, 48 years old, with an aura that included complex illusions with a feeling of time travelling, coincident with other aura features. The aura was regarded as mystical by the patient. Female, 38 years old, with a complex migraine aura, during which she believed she had the ability to time travel and was being followed by lobbyists who wanted to steal this ability from her. Discussion: FHM type 2 must be included in the list of differential diagnoses of acute psychosis in patients with a previous history of migraine aura. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effect of the introduction of niobium carbide was studied on the dehydro-aromatization of methane over a molybdenum containing HMCM-22 zeolite at 973 K. The introduction of niobium decreased Brønsted acidity, affecting catalyst behavior on the dehydro-aromatization of methane. Niobium carbide containing zeolite showed lower activity, lower coke deposition and predominant formation of naphthalene, in the expenses of benzene, the major product observed for Mo containing zeolite. Besides carbidic carbon, two other types of coke were observed: one associated to molybdenum and the other associated to Brønsted acid sites located both on the catalyst surface and inside zeolite pores. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Relentless advances in IC technologies have fueled steady increases on fabricated component density and working frequencies. As feature sizes decrease to nanometer scales, an increase in switching activity per unit of area and time is observed. When extreme switching activity occurs in a small region of an integrated circuit, malfunctions may be triggered that compromise behavior. This can be either a consequence of a decrease in bias levels in the power grid caused by IR-Drop, or due to unexpected glitching on gates' outputs caused by ground bounce. For proper circuit verification, both conditions have to be accurately estimated and accounted for. Achieving this in an accurate manner for a large circuit is a very challenging problem. In this paper we propose and compare methods for the identification of the conditions leading to extreme situations of switching activity in integrated circuits. Our approach is based on both spatial and time partitioning which are used to address the accuracy and computational requirements. We propose a method for determining the exact conditions for worst case switching activity in a small circuit area during a short time interval. We then show how this method can be combined with partitioning to allow for accurate full circuit verification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The seeking of a second opinion is the long-established process whereby a physician or expert from the same or a similar specialty is invited to assess a clinical case in order to confirm or reject a diagnosis or treatment plan. Seeking a second opinion has become more common in recent years, and the trend is associated with significant changes in the patient-doctor relationship. Telemedicine is attractive because it is not only fast but also affordable and thus makes it possible to reach highly qualified centres and experts that would otherwise be inaccessible, being impossible, or too expensive, to reach by any surface transport. In Europe, the European Headache Federation (EHF), being able to draw on a group of headache experts covering all the European languages, is the organisation best placed to provide qualified second-opinion consultation on difficult headache cases and to develop a Headache Medical Opinion Service Centre. The provision of good quality clinical information is crucial to the formulation of a valid, expert second opinion. This preliminary step can be properly accomplished only by the primary health care provider through the furnishing of an appropriate clinical report, together with the results of all available tests, including original films of all imaging studies already performed. On receiving the EHF’s proposed standardised data collection form, properly filled in, we may be sure that we have all the relevant data necessary to formulate a valid expert second opinion. This form can be accessed electronically and downloaded from the EHF website. Once finalised, the EHF second opinion project should be treated as a pilot strategy that requires careful monitoring (for the first year at least), so that appropriate changes, as suggested by the retrospective analysis and its quality control, can be implemented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Timorese River Buffalo ( Bubalus bubalis) plays a major role in the East Timor economy, as it is an important source of animal protein in human nutrition. They are widely spread throughout the country and are in direct contact with the populations. In spite of this proximity, information on their microbiota is scarce. This work aimed at characterizing the skin microbiota of the East Timorese River Buffalo and its antimicrobial resistance profile. Skin swab samples were taken from 46 animals in surveys conducted in three farms located in “Suco de Nairete”, Lospalos district, during July and August 2006. Bacteria were isolated and identified according to conventional microbiological procedures. A total of 456 isolates were obtained, including Gram-positive ( n = 243) and Gram-negative ( n = 213) bacteria. Due to their importance as potential pathogens and as vehicles for antimicrobial resistance transmission, Gram-positive cocci ( n = 27) and bacilli ( n = 77) isolates were further characterized, and their antimicrobial resistance profile determined by the disk diffusion method according to the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute guidelines. This study shows the high bacterial diversity of B. bubalis skin microbiota, representing an important first step towards understanding its importance and epidemiologic role in animal health. It also points out the potential role of these animals as vectors of antimicrobial resistant bacteria dissemination and the importance of antimicrobial resistance monitoring in developing countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The CO2 production by shift reaction and the deactivation process are the drawbacks of the One-Step DME Synthesis. Therefore, this contribution discusses possible deactivation modes taking into account the catalytic performance and the characterization of spent catalysts using XRD, TG and FTIR techniques. For this purpose a physical mixture that contains a commercial methanol catalyst and ZSM-5 was employed. It can be suggested that one of the main modes of catalyst deactivation is the hydrocarbon formation by MTG reactions. Changes in the interaction between Cu0 and ZnO should also be considered. The results show that both of them are affected by H2/CO ratio. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Familial hemiplegic migraine is a rare autosomal dominant subtype of migraine with aura. Three genes have been identified, all involved in ion transport. There is considerable clinical variation associated with FHM mutations. Genotype–phenotype correlation studies are needed, but are challenging mainly because the number of carriers of individual mutations is low. One exception is the recurrent T666M mutation in the FHM1 CACNA1A gene that was identified in almost one-third of FHM families and showed variable associated clinical features and severity, both within and among FHM families. Similar studies in the FHM2 ATP1A2 gene have not been performed because of the low number of carriers with individual mutations. Here we report on the recurrence of ATP1A2 mutations M731T and T376M that affect sodium–potassium pump functioning in two Portuguese FHM families. Considerably increasing the number of mutation carriers with these mutations indicated a clear genotype–phenotype correlation: both mutations are associated with pure FHM. In addition, we show that recurrent mutations for ATP1A2 are more frequent than previously thought, which has implications for genotype–phenotype correlations and genetic testing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work aims at studying the effect of CO2 addition in the non-oxidative conversion of methane over a Mo-containing MCM-22 zeolite. Catalyst characterization made use of X-ray fluorescence, textural analysis, X-ray diffraction and diffuse reflectance spectroscopy. Molybdenum was present as highly condensed species with octahedral coordination, such as (Mo7O24)6 and MoO3 species. Catalytic tests were carried out at atmospheric pressure and 700 °C, with WHSV of 90gCH4 · g h−1. Coke species were studied by thermogravimetric analysis and thermoprogrammed oxidation. Besides the carbidic carbon, two other types of coke were observed: one associated to molybdenum and the other associated to Brönsted acid sites located both on the catalyst surface and inside zeolite pores. The species associated to acid sites, known to be responsible for polyaromatics formation and catalyst deactivation, were reduced in a more significant way by the use of CO2, increasing the catalyst stability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]