An Individual-based Probabilistic Model for Fish Stock Simulation

We define an individual-based probabilistic model of a sole (Solea solea) behaviour. The individual model is given in terms of an Extended Probabilistic Discrete Timed Automaton (EPDTA), a new formalism that is introduced in the paper and that is shown to be interpretable as a Markov decision process. A given EPDTA model can be probabilistically model-checked by giving a suitable translation into syntax accepted by existing model-checkers. In order to simulate the dynamics of a given population of soles in different environmental scenarios, an agent-based simulation environment is defined in which each agent implements the behaviour of the given EPDTA model. By varying the probabilities and the characteristic functions embedded in the EPDTA model it is possible to represent different scenarios and to tune the model itself by comparing the results of the simulations with real data about the sole stock in the North Adriatic sea, available from the recent project SoleMon. The simulator is presented and made available for its adaptation to other species.Comment: In Proceedings AMCA-POP 2010, arXiv:1008.314

The middle-southern Adriatic basin in February 1999: the chemical and physical characteristics of the water column.

In the Southern Adriatic depression nitrogen and phosphorous salts are concentrated in the bottom water. The Redfield ratio, same 29, is higher at Pomo and D transect, mostly on the bottom, because phosphorous is limiting and nitrogen is abundant. Northern waters influence this southern area, together with surface and intermediate waters coming from Ionian sea, and western shelf waters which tend to sink to the bottom. Key-words: Adriatic Sea, thermohaline characteristics, nutrient salts, Redfield rati

Real Time Marine Data Acquisition: The Coastal Oceanographic Observatory Network in the Adriatic sea.

not availabl

Anatomically and Functionally Distinct Lung Mesenchymal Populations Marked by Lgr5 and Lgr6

The diversity of mesenchymal cell types in the lung that influence epithelial homeostasis and regeneration is poorly defined. We used genetic lineage tracing, single-cell RNA sequencing, and organoid culture approaches to show that Lgr5 and Lgr6, well-known markers of stem cells in epithelial tissues, are markers of mesenchymal cells in the adult lung. Lgr6 + cells comprise a subpopulation of smooth muscle cells surrounding airway epithelia and promote airway differentiation of epithelial progenitors via Wnt-Fgf10 cooperation. Genetic ablation of Lgr6 + cells impairs airway injury repair in vivo. Distinct Lgr5 + cells are located in alveolar compartments and are sufficient to promote alveolar differentiation of epithelial progenitors through Wnt activation. Modulating Wnt activity altered differentiation outcomes specified by mesenchymal cells. This identification of region- and lineage-specific crosstalk between epithelium and their neighboring mesenchymal partners provides new understanding of how different cell types are maintained in the adult lung. Keywords: mesenchymal cells; bronchiolar epithelium; alveolar epithelium; lung stem cells; lung; differentiation; niche; Wnt signalin

The relevance of the creative process of design in leadership competencies for sustainable city transitions

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Architecture (Sustainable and Energy Efficient Cities)In order to address the challenge of leadership for sustainable city transitions, the creative process of design used by architects and the methods used by leaders were investigated. This was done in order to determine the extent of common ground and to shed light on whether the architectural creative process and the associated skills, competencies and attributes can inform the process of leadership. These processes were investigated within the framework of the four stages of the creative process - preparation, incubation, illumination and verification stages - backcasting and phenomenology, which also constituted a theoretical basis of the study. To address the primary data requirements of the study, semi-structured interviews with an architect, a business and a sustainability leader were conducted. Secondary data were collected from writings and interviews of architects and biographies of leaders, together with other published material pertaining to leadership in the sustainable city arena. Data were then analysed based on critical attributes related to the creativity process in relation to leadership. The key findings are that architects follow a specific design methodology, there is no explicit reference to the creative process in their explanations of their design process and their creative process correlates with the creative process as determined in psychology and neuroscience and as experienced phenomenologically. There are similarities in the manner in which architects and leaders envision new solutions, even though their methodologies are not the same. The study concludes that architects and leaders experience the process of creating and pursuing their visions similarly but they manifest differently across the two domains. The findings and conclusions suggest that the well-developed methods used by architects could have relevance in the practice of leadership towards sustainable cities. These methods could be adapted towards developing leadership competencies in transioning cities to the sustainable city of the future. Key words: architects’ design process, creative process stages, leadership, sustainable city transitions, backcasting, phenomenologyGR201

Time history analysis of axial forces (Pass Through Forces) at joints in a braced frame

Thesis (M. Eng.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, 2012.Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.Includes bibliographical references (p. 49-50).As buildings keep getting taller, traditional braced lateral systems take more loads. This generates a phenomenon at every joint of a frame called "Pass Through Force". Pass through forces come from the transfer of axial forces between two side by side members. Adding a bracing scheme to our frame will introduce even more pass through forces at the node since part the force in the bracing will be transferred in the horizontal member. The main goal of this thesis is to find an appropriate way of computing pass through forces without being too conservative. If we take an accurate value of pass through force at a node, the steel connections will not be overdesigned, resulting in cost savings. In this thesis, we analyse multiple bracing configurations for a typical steel frame under different load combinations in order to find a procedure for computing pass through forces adequately. Each scenario will be analysed in detail, a time history analysis will be used to find precise values under earthquake loading. The results are compared with two traditional methods of finding pass through forces, and the best approach is identified.by Vincent Paschini.M.Eng

Proyecto y diseño de obras hidráulicas RP 5 - Tramo: Federal empalme RP 2 - Provincia de Entre Ríos

Practica Supervisada (IC)--FCEFN-UNC, 2014Elabora la pavimentación de la Ruta Provincial N°5 en la provincia de Entre Ríos manteniendo el eje actual excepto en casos puntuales donde se rediseñaron los radios de curvas por resultar los existentes inadecuados para la velocidad del diseño. Prevé la pavimentación de calzada con el objeto de favorecer la integración del territorio de la provincia en el eje O-E, disminuir los costos de viajes y fomentar el desarrollo económico, a través de mejoras en la productividad, atracción de inversiones y el incremento del valor de las tierra

Candida albicans repetitive elements display epigenetic diversity and plasticity

Transcriptionally silent heterochromatin is associated with repetitive DNA. It is poorly understood whether and how heterochromatin differs between different organisms and whether its structure can be remodelled in response to environmental signals. Here, we address this question by analysing the chromatin state associated with DNA repeats in the human fungal pathogen Candida albicans. Our analyses indicate that, contrary to model systems, each type of repetitive element is assembled into a distinct chromatin state. Classical Sir2-dependent hypoacetylated and hypomethylated chromatin is associated with the rDNA locus while telomeric regions are assembled into a weak heterochromatin that is only mildly hypoacetylated and hypomethylated. Major Repeat Sequences, a class of tandem repeats, are assembled into an intermediate chromatin state bearing features of both euchromatin and heterochromatin. Marker gene silencing assays and genome-wide RNA sequencing reveals that C. albicans heterochromatin represses expression of repeat-associated coding and non-coding RNAs. We find that telomeric heterochromatin is dynamic and remodelled upon an environmental change. Weak heterochromatin is associated with telomeres at 30?°C, while robust heterochromatin is assembled over these regions at 39?°C, a temperature mimicking moderate fever in the host. Thus in C. albicans, differential chromatin states controls gene expression and epigenetic plasticity is linked to adaptation

On the Green's function of Laplace's tidal equation, an application to the northern Adriatic Sea

To evaluate the effect of external forces on the northern water motion of Adriatic Sea, we calculate the Green's Function of Laplace's tidal equation for a simple geometry. As an application, we use known data on sea level variations at various stations, in order to determine the external forces. We then compute the "theoretical" sea level at Venice. Its comparison with "experimental" data taken at Venice gives encouraging results. DOI: 10.1111/j.2153-3490.1979.tb00891.

Religious exploration in greek tragedy

My research project focuses on Greek tragedy’s specific contribution to fifth-century debate on issues of theodicy and on theological questions concerning the existence and nature of the gods, and their role in human lives. The relationship between the human and the divine as represented and explored in Greek tragedy is discussed with special attention to the problems inherent in the different forms of contact between deities and mankind. The dissertation is structured thematically: each of the three chapters deals with a specific religious theme and focuses on the analysis of a couple of paradigmatic plays. This project starts by studying one of the closest forms of contact between gods and mortals depicted in Greek tragedy, namely the stories of sexual intercourse between a male deity and a mortal girl (Aeschylus’ Suppliants and Euripides’ Ion). The second chapter concerns the opposition between human and divine knowledge in Sophocles’ OT and Euripides’ Bacchae, whereas the third addresses the topic of divine intervention in human life by analyzing the dramatic portrayal of the gods on stage in Aeschylus’ Eumenides and Euripides’ Orestes. This research aims to show how religious exploration in ancient Greek tragedy is tied up with a number of competing discourses informed by advances in medicine as well as by contemporary philosophical and political questions. Each chapter follows a similar methodology of close reading of the plays connecting the linguistic and thematic analyses of emblematic passages to broader fifth-century theological concerns