Abstract Introduction The 2D:4D digit ratio is sexually-dimorphic, probably due to testosterone action through the perinatal period. We characterize the 2D:4D ratio in newborn (NB) infants, in ...between the pre- and postnatal surges of testosterone, and relate it to the mother's 2D:4D and to testosterone levels in the amniotic fluid (AF). Subjects and methods Testosterone was assayed in samples of maternal plasma and AF collected at amniocentesis. Shortly after birth, 106 NBs and their mothers were measured for 2D:4D ratio. Results NB males had lower mean 2D:4D ratios than females but this dimorphism was significant only for the left hand (males: 0.927; females: 0.950; p = 0.004). Mothers who had sons had lower 2D:4D ratios than those who had daughters and the mother's 2D:4D were higher than those of NBs regardless of sex. Both hands of NB females were negatively correlated with AF testosterone and positively correlated with the mother's 2D:4D, but males showed no significant associations. Maternal plasma testosterone also showed a negative weak correlation with NB's digit ratio in both sexes. Conclusions Sexual dimorphism at birth was only significant for the left hand, in contrast with reports of greater right hand dimorphism, suggesting that postnatal testosterone is determinant for 2D:4D stabilization. The lower 2D:4D ratios in mothers who had sons support claims that hormone levels in parents are influential for determining their children's sex. NB female's digit ratio, but not males', was associated to the level of AF testosterone. The mother's 2D:4D ratios were positively correlated with their daughters' 2D:4D, but the same was not observed for male NBs, suggesting that prenatal testosterone levels in male fetus lead their 2D:4D ratios to stray from their mothers' with high individual variability.
This work presents integer programming techniques to tackle the problem of the International Nurse Rostering Competition. Starting from a compact and monolithic formulation in which the current ...generation of solvers performs poorly, improved cut generation strategies and primal heuristics are proposed and evaluated. A large number of computational experiments with these techniques produced the following results: the optimality of the vast majority of instances was proved, the best known solutions were improved by up to 15 % and strong dual bounds were obtained. In the spirit of reproducible science, all code was implemented using the Computational Infrastructure for Operations Research.
Fish larvae in aquaculture have high mortality rates due to pathogenic bacteria, especially the Vibrio species, and ineffective prophylactic strategies. Vaccination is not feasible in larvae and ...antibiotics have reduced efficacy against multidrug resistant bacteria. A novel approach to controlling Vibrio infections in aquaculture is needed. The potential of phage therapy to combat vibriosis in fish larvae production has not yet been examined. We describe the isolation and characterization of two bacteriophages capable of infecting pathogenic Vibrio and their application to prevent bacterial infection in fish larvae. Two groups of zebrafish larvae were infected with V. anguillarum (∼106 CFU mL-1) and one was later treated with a phage lysate (∼108 PFU mL-1). A third group was only added with phages. A fourth group received neither bacteria nor phages (fish control). Larvae mortality, after 72 h, in the infected and treated group was similar to normal levels and significantly lower than that of the infected but not treated group, indicating that phage treatment was effective. Thus, directly supplying phages to the culture water could be an effective and inexpensive approach toward reducing the negative impact of vibriosis in larviculture.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
•Thermal insulating render incorporating silica aerogel particles.•The formulation was developed with the Mediterranean climate zone in perspective.•Evaluation of fresh, hardened-state, chemical and ...microstructural characteristics.•The low thermal conductivity allows significant energy savings in buildings.
There has been an increasing need for innovative coating materials with high thermal insulation properties to achieve energy-efficiency on buildings’ façades. This can be accomplished through the incorporation of nanomaterials in new thermal renders’ formulations. However, it is also essential that these coatings systems have multiperformance to fulfil the current standard requirements. The studies already made lack a global performance approach, often focusing only on physical and mechanical performance. Therefore, within the scope of this research, it was possible to obtain a new super-insulating thermal render formulation with the Mediterranean climate zone in perspective, characterising its performance at fresh and hardened states, from the mechanical, physical, chemical, and microstructural points-of-view. With this work, it was possible to preserve the aerogel granules integrity while also presenting a homogeneous distribution within the paste, due to the incorporation of rheological agents. This allowed us to obtain a low thermal conductivity multifunctional render (~ 0.029 W⋅m−1⋅K−1), with potential for industrial development, leading to an increase of the energy-saving abilities of these materials, and broadening their scope of application to both new construction and rehabilitation.
Mathematical models in biology are powerful tools for the study and exploration of complex dynamics. Nevertheless, bringing theoretical results to an agreement with experimental observations involves ...acknowledging a great deal of uncertainty intrinsic to our theoretical representation of a real system. Proper handling of such uncertainties is key to the successful usage of models to predict experimental or field observations. This problem has been addressed over the years by many tools for model calibration and parameter estimation. In this article we present a general framework for uncertainty analysis and parameter estimation that is designed to handle uncertainties associated with the modeling of dynamic biological systems while remaining agnostic as to the type of model used. We apply the framework to fit an SIR-like influenza transmission model to 7 years of incidence data in three European countries: Belgium, the Netherlands and Portugal.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
In this work, the
-confused porphyrin 5,10,15,20-tetraphenyl-2-aza-21-carbaporphyrin (NCTPP) was immobilized on neutral or cationic supports based on silica and on Merrifield resin. The new materials ...were characterized by appropriate techniques (UV-Vis spectroscopy, SEM, and zeta potential analysis). Piezoelectric quartz crystal gold electrodes were coated with the different hybrids and their ability to interact with heavy metals was evaluated. The preliminary results obtained showed that the new materials can be explored for metal cations detection and the modification of the material surface is a key factor in tuning the metal selectivity.
•We address the Multi-Depot Vehicle Routing Problem with heterogeneous depots.•Our approach takes into consideration customers’ preferences and distribution costs.•We combine statistical techniques ...and metaheuristics to maximize companies’ benefits.
In real-life logistics and distribution activities it is usual to face situations in which the distribution of goods has to be made from multiple warehouses or depots to the final customers. This problem is known as the Multi-Depot Vehicle Routing Problem (MDVRP), and it typically includes two sequential and correlated stages: (a) the assignment map of customers to depots, and (b) the corresponding design of the distribution routes. Most of the existing work in the literature has focused on minimizing distance-based distribution costs while satisfying a number of capacity constraints. However, no attention has been given so far to potential variations in demands due to the fitness of the customer-depot mapping in the case of heterogeneous depots. In this paper, we consider this realistic version of the problem in which the depots are heterogeneous in terms of their commercial offer and customers show different willingness to consume depending on how well the assigned depot fits their preferences. Thus, we assume that different customer-depot assignment maps will lead to different customer-expenditure levels. As a consequence, market-segmentation strategies need to be considered in order to increase sales and total income while accounting for the distribution costs. To solve this extension of the MDVRP, we propose a hybrid approach that combines statistical learning techniques with a metaheuristic framework. First, a set of predictive models is generated from historical data. These statistical models allow estimating the demand of any customer depending on the assigned depot. Then, the estimated expenditure of each customer is included as part of an enriched objective function as a way to better guide the stochastic local search inside the metaheuristic framework. A set of computational experiments contribute to illustrate our approach and how the extended MDVRP considered here differs in terms of the proposed solutions from the traditional one.
The incorporation or the replacement of materials in buildings may decrease the energy use during the operational stage but increase the embodied energy in a building's life cycle. In this study, ...three different solar control films (SCFs A, B and C) with application on the existing windows of a building are investigated through an energy, environmental and economic perspective over a defined life cycle period. The full replacement of the existing window with a new one is also analyzed as an alternative retrofitting solution. Retrofitting solutions with higher light-to-solar gain ratios showed higher energy savings during the use stage by decreasing the solar gains in a higher proportion than the decrease of the visible transmittance. The best retrofitting solution, SCF C, showed a life cycle energy (LCE) (embodied plus operational energy) and a carbon footprint of 4447 MJ/m2/40 y and 380 kgCO2eq/m2/40 y, respectively, whereas the least performant solution, new window, showed a LCE 1.5 times higher than the average of the three SCFs. The higher LCE value of the new window was found to be related to the higher value of the embodied energy when compared to that of the three SCFs (∼9 times higher than the average of the films).
•Energy, environmental and economic study of two alternative window retrofit solutions.•Retrofit scenarios: installation of films (SCFs) or full replacement with new window (NW).•Solutions with higher light-to-solar gain ratios (τvis/g) showed higher operational energy savings.•Embodied energy (EE) of NW is nine times higher than the EE of SCFs.•Life cycle energy (LCE) of NW 1.5 times higher than the LCE of SCFs.
•ETF functions as a hub taking up electrons from at least 14 mitochondrial flavoenzymes.•ETF relays electrons to the respiratory chain via membrane-bound ETF:QO.•Protein dynamics and interactions ...fine tune FAD redox potentials favoring electron transfer.•Studies of disease-associated mutations have revealed important structural relationships.
Electron transfer flavoprotein (ETF) is an enzyme with orthologs from bacteria to humans. Human ETF is nuclear encoded by two separate genes, ETFA and ETFB, respectively. After translation, the two subunits are imported to the mitochondrial matrix space and assemble into a heterodimer containing one FAD and one AMP as cofactors. ETF functions as a hub taking up electrons from at least 14 flavoenzymes, feeding them into the respiratory chain. This represents a major source of reducing power for the electron transport chain from fatty acid oxidation and amino acid degradation. Transfer of electrons from the donor enzymes to ETF occurs by direct transfer between the enzyme bound flavins, a process that is tightly regulated by the polypeptide chain and by protein:protein interactions. ETF, in turn relays electrons to the iron sulfur cluster of the inner membrane protein ETF:QO, from where they travel via the FAD in ETF:QO to ubiquinone, entering the respiratory chain at the level of complex III. ETF recognizes its dehydrogenase partners via a recognition loop that anchors the protein on its partner followed by dynamic movements of the ETF flavin domain that bring redox cofactors in close proximity, thus promoting electron transfer. Genetic mutations in the ETFA or ETFB genes cause the Mendelian disorder multiple acyl-CoA dehydrogenase deficiency (MADD; OMIM #231680). We here review the knowledge on human ETF and investigations of the effects of disease-associated missense mutations in this protein that have promoted the understanding of the essential role that ETF plays in cellular metabolism and human disease.
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