The continued investigations of the paranormal facilitated the development of novel theories and methodologies. Psi functioning of the living and the deceased in survival phenomena suggested the ...living agent psi (LAP) and discarnate psi hypotheses, but neither has demonstrated sufficient explanatory power to claim superiority in explaining survival data. Mediumship studies cannot determine whether paranormal information is sourced by means of discarnate psi or LAP, presenting the source-of-psi problem. Anomalous information can be obtained from joint sources (LAP, survival, or some other source), which supports the multiple sources of psi (MSoP) hypothesis. The maximized explanatory potential of the MSoP hypothesis makes the inclusion of the LAP and discarnate psi factors in the calculation of a Drake-S equation for post-mortem survival required and appropriate. This paper concludes that 1) the aggregate effect of skeptical explanations for survival was calculated at 65.6%, leaving 35.4% to paranormal explanations, which contradicts skeptical claims and is inconsistent with the existing laws of conventional science; 2) 16% of paranormal experiences reported among the general population appeared genuine; and 3) the calculated purified probability for all paranormal phenomena equaling 40% can be attributed to paranormal causes. This suggests reasonable plausibility of the survival hypothesis. To refine the existing factors and find new empirical factors related to known confounds and anomalous effects, future research should include more robust procedures and methods of data selection, gathering, and analysis. Keywords: Survival hypothesis, Living agent psi hypothesis (LAP), Discarnate psi hypothesis, Multiple sources of psi hypothesis (MSoP), Source-of-psi problem, Drake-S Equation.
The reincarnation hypothesis states that an individual possesses an aspect that survives bodily death and later joins another body. It has been used to reinforce the post-mortem survival hypothesis ...of alleged continuity of personality after death; both are supported by verified report data. The living agent psi hypothesis, which cannot be refuted on theoretical grounds, was advanced to account for that same evidence, but lacks support by experimental research. An alternative, the psychic reservoir hypothesis, holds that living and discarnate persons can access information about existential experiences of various conscious beings stored in some implicit repository of unknown nature and location. Studies have established the impossibility of definitively identifying the source of psi used by living or discarnates in mediumistic or psychic reading communications, the source-of-psi problem. A novel multiple sources of psi (MSoP) hypothesis proposed that strengthened explanatory power gained by aggregating the advantages of these different hypotheses could provide a theoretical foundation for some future solution to the source-of-psi problem. In support of these arguments, this study, which used the multipaper dissertation format, includes three journal articles: “Is the Reincarnation Hypothesis Advanced by Stevenson for Spontaneous Past-Life Experiences Relevant for the Understanding of the Ontology of Past-Life Phenomena?,” published under the author’s prior name S. Slavoutski in 2012 in the International Journal of Transpersonal Studies, 31(1), “Beyond Survival Debates: Addressing the Source-of-Psi Problem with the Multiple Sources of Psi Hypothesis (Part I),” and “Beyond Survival Debates: Addressing the Source-of-Psi Problem with the Multiple Sources of Psi Hypothesis (Part II),” both published in 2020 in the Journal of Consciousness Exploration & Research, 11(4). This dissertation contains theoretical investigations in the fields of transpersonal studies and parapsychological research.
A long-term in vitro culture system of intact grape berries was developed which can serve to study the response of berry composition to various trophic factors, shown by sugar regulation of ...anthocyanin accumulation.
We introduce an optical microscopy technique aimed at characterizing the heat generation arising from nanostructures, in a comprehensive and quantitative manner. Namely, the technique permits (i) ...mapping the temperature distribution around the source of heat, (ii) mapping the heat power density delivered by the source, and (iii) retrieving the absolute absorption cross section of light-absorbing structures. The technique is based on the measure of the thermal-induced refractive index variation of the medium surrounding the source of heat. The measurement is achieved using an association of a regular CCD camera along with a modified Hartmann diffraction grating. Such a simple association makes this technique straightforward to implement on any conventional microscope with its native broadband illumination conditions. We illustrate this technique on gold nanoparticles illuminated at their plasmonic resonance. The spatial resolution of this technique is diffraction limited, and temperature variations weaker than 1 K can be detected.
MAIN CONCLUSION : Light exclusion reduces the concentration and modifies the composition of grape anthocyanins, by altering the expression of genes involved in anthocyanin biosynthesis and transport, ...in a cultivar- and tissue-specific manner. Unlike most grapes, teinturier grapes accumulate anthocyanins both in skin and flesh. However, the concentration and composition of anthocyanins in both tissues differ, providing a valuable system to study tissue-specific regulation of anthocyanin synthesis. Furthermore, little is known about the mechanisms controlling the sensitivity of anthocyanin accumulation to light. Here, light was excluded from Gamay (white-fleshed) and Gamay Fréaux (teinturier mutant) berries throughout berry development. Under light-exposed conditions, the skin of Gamay Fréaux accumulated the highest level of anthocyanins, followed by the skin of Gamay, while the pulp of Gamay Fréaux had much lower anthocyanins than the skins. Network analysis revealed the same order on the number of significant correlations among metabolites and transcripts in the three colored tissues, indicating a higher connectivity that reflects a higher efficiency of the anthocyanin pathway. Compared to light conditions, light exclusion reduced the total amount of anthocyanins, most severely in the skin of Gamay and to a lesser extent in the flesh and skin of Gamay Fréaux. Coordinated decrease in the transcript abundance of structural, regulatory and transporter genes by light exclusion correlated with the reduced anthocyanin concentration in a cultivar- and tissue-specific manner. Moreover, light exclusion increased the ratio of dihydroxylated to trihydroxylated anthocyanins, in parallel with F3′H and F3′5′H transcript amounts. Sugars and ABA only play a limited role in the control of anthocyanin synthesis in the berries, in contrast with what has been described in cell suspensions. This study provides novel insights into the regulation of anthocyanin in wild type and teinturier cultivars.
•Theoretical nonlinear Klein Gordon model with anharmonic, cubic and quartic interactions between nearest neighbor particles immersed in a parametrized on-site substrate potential is ...presented.•Illustration of theoretical model by introducing a discrete nonlinear electrical transmission line.•The mathematical model which derive is a new class of differential equations possessing several key parameters and ranging from many singular straight lines.•Dynamical system methods are used to discuss bifurcations of phase portraits and vector fields for each orbit of phase portraits with corresponding conditions.•All possible exact parametric representations of solutions are compute and phenomena such as the formation of cracks originating from dislocations that are observed in semiconductor heterostructures can now have a beginning of analytical explanations.
This work completes and extends the Ref. Tchakoutio Nguetcho et al. (2017), in which we have focused our attention only on the dynamic behavior of gap soliton solutions of the anharmonic Klein-Gordon model immersed in a parameterized on-site substrate potential. We expand our work now inside the permissible frequency band. These considerations have crucial effects on the response of nonlinear excitations that can propagate along this model. Moreover, working in the allowed frequency band is not only interesting from a physical point of view, it also provides an extraordinary mathematical model, a new class of differential equations possessing vital parameters and vertical singular straight lines. The dynamics around these singularities gives new informations of great interest, such as to better understand the break up (rupture) of a stretched polymer chain by pulling and its relation to soliton destruction and which until now had no mathematical explanations yet. The mathematical model of the differential equation we obtain corresponds, as an equivalent experimental model, to the nonlinear transmission electrical line introduced in 2009 in Ref. Yemélé and Kenmogné(2009), whose equations were corrected but not entirely resolved in 2016 in Ref. Yamgoué and Pelap(2016). Our dynamic study thus presents a theoretical prediction for their experimental set up. An extensive account of the bifurcation theory for modulated-wave propagation is given. By investigating the dynamical behavior and bifurcations of solutions of the planar dynamical systems, we not only make a total inventory of the solutions that can include such differential equations, but we derive a variety of exotic solutions corresponding to each phase trajectories as well as their different conditions of existence.
ZnO nanorods (NRs) with an average length and diameter of 186 and 20 nm, respectively, were prepared through a mild solvothermal route and used as photocatalysts either as dispersed powder or ...immobilized on glass slides. The ZnO NRs were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and X-ray diffraction (XRD). Dispersed ZnO NRs and, to a lesser extent, immobilized ZnO NRs were demonstrated to exhibit high photocatalytic activity under simulated sunlight of low intensity (5.5 mW/cm²) both for the degradation of the Orange II dye and for
bacterial decontamination (2.5-fold survival decrease after 180 min irradiation for immobilized NRs). SEM, atomic force microscopy (AFM), fluorescence spectroscopy, and epifluorescence microscopy demonstrate that cell surface damages are responsible of bacterial inactivation. The immobilized ZnO NRs could be reused up to five times for bacterial decontamination at comparable efficiency and therefore have great potential for real environmental applications.
We previously demonstrated that intracardiac delivery of autologous peripheral blood‐derived CD34+ stem cells (SCs), mobilized by granulocyte‐colony stimulating factor (G‐CSF) and collected by ...leukapheresis after myocardial infarction, structurally and functionally repaired the damaged myocardial area. When used for cardiac indication, CD34+ cells are now considered as Advanced Therapy Medicinal Products (ATMPs). We have industrialized their production by developing an automated device for ex vivo CD34+‐SC expansion, starting from a whole blood (WB) sample. Blood samples were collected from healthy donors after G‐CSF mobilization. Manufacturing procedures included: (a) isolation of total nuclear cells, (b) CD34+ immunoselection, (c) expansion and cell culture recovery in the device, and (d) expanded CD34+ cell immunoselection and formulation. The assessment of CD34+ cell counts, viability, and immunophenotype and sterility tests were performed as quality tests. We established graft acceptance criteria and performed validation processes in three cell therapy centers. 59.4 × 106 ± 36.8 × 106 viable CD34+ cells were reproducibly generated as the final product from 220 ml WB containing 17.1 × 106 ± 8.1 × 106 viable CD34+ cells. CD34+ identity, genetic stability, and telomere length were consistent with those of basal CD34+ cells. Gram staining and mycoplasma and endotoxin analyses were negative in all cases. We confirmed the therapeutic efficacy of both CD34+‐cell categories in experimental acute myocardial infarct (AMI) in immunodeficient rats during preclinical studies. This reproducible, automated, and standardized expansion process produces high numbers of CD34+ cells corresponding to the approved ATMP and paves the way for a phase I/IIb study in AMI, which is currently recruiting patients. Stem Cells Translational Medicine 2019;8:822&832
This article presents a simplified and standardized production process yielding high amounts of CD34+ cells. After a phase of development, validation processes have been realized in three different cell therapy centers. Expanded CD34+ cells’ characteristics were consistent with those of basal CD34+ cells. Those results, combined with those of a proof of concept study realized on rats, allowed us to begin the EXCELLENT phase I/IIb clinical trial.
This is a protocol for a Cochrane Review (Intervention). The objectives are as follows:
Our main goal is to provide knowledge about the effectiveness and adoption factors of ICT interventions on SRH ...promotion and HIV/AIDS prevention among adolescents and young adults.
Primary objective
: To assess the effectiveness of ICT interventions for SRH promotion including HIV/AIDS prevention among adolescents and young adults.
Interventions of interest are the behavioral ones, aimed at SRH promotion and primary prevention of HIV in heterosexual adolescents and young adults. Three comparisons are then planned:
1‐ ICT intervention versus no intervention;
2‐ ICT intervention versus other interventions not using ICT;
3‐ ICT intervention versus another ICT intervention.
To assess the influence of specific factors across studies, subgroup comparisons will be conducted with respect to the characteristics of technology, intervention and recipients. The following characteristics provide potential categories for grouping studies, but the number of subgroup comparisons will depend on the characteristics of the studies included in the review.
Characteristics of technology
: internet (internet‐based, web‐based and online intervention), computer, cell phone, Personal Digital Assistance, CD‐Rom, interactive video, telemedicine/telehealth, etc.
Characteristics of interventions
: clinic‐based, school‐based, population‐based, community‐based, peer‐support, tailored, targeted, theory‐based, etc.
Characteristics of recipients
: gender (male, female), age (adolescents, young adults), place of residence (urban, rural).
Secondary objective
: To identify factors of applicability of ICT interventions in SRH promotion and HIV/AIDS prevention among adolescents and young adults.
We will develop the discussion on the limitations and opportunities of ICT approaches (access, cost, ease of use, confidentiality/privacy, etc.).
Using the theory of bifurcation, we provide and find gap soliton dynamics in a nonlinear Klein-Gordon model with anharmonic, cubic, and quartic interactions immersed in a parametrized on-site ...substrate potential. The case of a deformable substrate potential allows theoretical adaptation of the model to various physical situations. Nonconvex interactions in lattice systems lead to a number of interesting phenomena that cannot be produced with linear coupling alone. By investigating the dynamical behavior and bifurcations of solutions of the planar dynamical systems, we derive a variety of exotic solutions corresponding to the phase trajectories under different parameter conditions. Moreover, we demonstrate how and why traveling waves lose their smoothness and develop into solutions with compact support or breaking.
PDF
