Kardar-Parisi-Zhang growth on one-dimensional decreasing substrates

Recent experimental works on one-dimensional (1D) circular Kardar-Parisi-Zhang (KPZ) systems whose radii decrease in time have reported controversial conclusions about the statistics of their interfaces. Motivated by this, we investigate here several 1D KPZ models on substrates whose size changes in time as $L(t)=L_0 + \omega t$, focusing on the case $\omega<0$. From extensive numerical simulations, we show that for $L_0 \gg 1$ there exists a transient regime in which the statistics is consistent with that of flat KPZ systems (the $\omega=0$ case), for both $\omega0$. Actually, for a given model, $L_0$ and $|\omega|$, we observe that a difference between ingrowing ($\omega0$) systems arises only at long times ($t \gtrsim t_c=L_0/|\omega|$), when the expanding surfaces cross over to the statistics of curved KPZ systems, whereas the shrinking ones become completely correlated. A generalization of the Family-Vicsek scaling for the roughness of ingrowing interfaces is presented. Our results demonstrate that a transient flat statistics is a general feature of systems starting with large initial sizes, regardless their curvature. This is consistent with their recent observation in ingrowing turbulent liquid crystal interfaces, but it is in contrast with the apparent observation of curved statistics in colloidal deposition at the edge of evaporating drops. A possible explanation for this last result, as a consequence of the very small number of monolayers analyzed in this experiment, is given. This is illustrated in a competitive growth model presenting a few-monolayer transient and an asymptotic behavior consistent, respectively, with the curved and flat statistics.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure

Constraining f(T,T)f(T, \mathcal{T}) gravity models using type Ia supernovae

We present an analysis of an $f(T, \mathcal{T})$ extension of the Teleparallel Equivalent of General Relativity, where $T$ denotes the torsion and $\mathcal{T}$ the trace of the energy-momentum tensor. This extension includes non--minimal couplings between torsion and matter. In particular, we construct two specific models that recover the usual continuity equation, namely, $f(T, \mathcal{T})=T+g(\mathcal{T})$ and $f(T, \mathcal{T})=T\times g(\mathcal{T})$. We then constrain the parameters of each model by fitting the predicted distance modulus to that measured from type Ia supernovae, and find that both models can reproduce the late--time cosmic acceleration. We also observe that one of the models satisfies well the observational constraints and yields a goodness--of--fit similar to the $\Lambda$CDM model, thus demonstrating that $f(T,\mathcal{T})$ gravity theory encompasses viable models that can be an alternative to $\Lambda$CDM.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figures. Version published in PR

Implications of subcutaneous or intravenous delivery of trastuzumab: further insight from patient interviews in the PrefHer study

BACKGROUND: The 2 Cohort randomised PrefHer trial examined the preferences of HER2+ve primary breast cancer patients for intravenous (IV) or subcutaneous (SC) delivery of trastuzumab via a Single Injectable Device (SID) or hand-held syringe (HHS). The novel approach and design of the study permitted an in-depth exploration of patients' experiences, the impact that different modes of delivery had on patients' well-being and implications for future management. METHODS: The preferences, experiences and general comments of patients in the PrefHer study were collected via specific semi-structured interview schedules. Exploratory analyses of data were conducted using standard methodology. The final question invited patients to make further comments, which were divided into 9 thematic categories - future delivery, compliments, time/convenience, practical considerations, pain/discomfort, study design, side-effects, psychological impact, and perceived efficacy. RESULTS: 267/467 (57%) patients made 396 additional comments, 7 were neutral, 305 positive and 86 negative. The three top categories generating the largest number of comments were compliments and gratitude about staff and being part of PrefHer (75/396; 19%), the potential future delivery of SC trastuzumab (73/396; 18%), and practical considerations about SC administration (60/396; 15%). CONCLUSIONS: Eliciting patient preferences about routes of administration of drugs via comprehensive interviews within a randomised cross-over trial yielded rich and important information. The few negative comments made demonstrated a need for proper staff training in SC administration Patients were grateful to have been part of the trial, and would have liked to continue with SC delivery. The possibility of home administration in the future also seemed acceptable. EUDRACT NUMBER: 2010-024099-25

The BOSS Emission-Line Lens Survey. III. : Strong Lensing of Lyα\alpha Emitters by Individual Galaxies

We introduce the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS) Emission-Line Lens Survey (BELLS) for GALaxy-Ly$\alpha$ EmitteR sYstems (BELLS GALLERY) Survey, which is a Hubble Space Telescope program to image a sample of galaxy-scale strong gravitational lens candidate systems with high-redshift Ly$\alpha$ emitters (LAEs) as the background sources. The goal of the BELLS GALLERY Survey is to illuminate dark substructures in galaxy-scale halos by exploiting the small-scale clumpiness of rest-frame far-UV emission in lensed LAEs, and to thereby constrain the slope and normalization of the substructure-mass function. In this paper, we describe in detail the spectroscopic strong-lens selection technique, which is based on methods adopted in the previous Sloan Lens ACS (SLACS) Survey, BELLS, and SLACS for the Masses Survey. We present the BELLS GALLERY sample of the 21 highest-quality galaxy--LAE candidates selected from $\approx 1.4 \times 10^6$ galaxy spectra in the BOSS of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey III. These systems consist of massive galaxies at redshifts of approximately 0.5 strongly lensing LAEs at redshifts from 2--3. The compact nature of LAEs makes them an ideal probe of dark substructures, with a substructure-mass sensitivity that is unprecedented in other optical strong-lens samples. The magnification effect from lensing will also reveal the structure of LAEs below 100 pc scales, providing a detailed look at the sites of the most concentrated unobscured star formation in the universe. The source code used for candidate selection is available for download as a part of this release.Comment: 14 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in the ApJ (ApJ, 824, 86). Minor edits to match the ApJ published versio

Smart Agro-Services in the Farm-Oriented Open Data in Europe (FOODIE) Platform: Insights from the Automatic Delimitation of Management Zones

Farm-Oriented Open Data in Europe (FOODIE) will provide specific and high-value applications and services for the support in the planning and decision-making processes of farmers and other stakeholders groups related to the agricultural and environmental domains. This paper focuses on FOODIE services based on machine learning algorithms and other artificial intelligence techniques providing, for instance, forecasting models to predict crop diseases or proposing management zones by means of clustering homogeneous zones of land. In particular, the service for the automatic delimitation of management zones is reviewed and tested in a case study. The results show the great potential of this smart agro-service for land classification.</jats:p

Structure et dynamique des populations de Phytophtora sp parasite du cacaoyer en Côte d'Ivoire

En Côte d'Ivoire, l'apparition de Phytophthora megakarya dans la zone Est du verger de cacaoyers s'est traduite par un accroissement substantiel des pertes de récolte dues à la pouniture brune des cabosses. Dans cette région, le niveau des pertes qui étaient estimées à 10 % en moyenne avec Phytophthora palmivora, varient actuellement de 30 à 45 %. Ce chiffre avoisine les 60% de perte dans certaines localités. La lutte contre la pouniture brune des cabosses est donc devenue une priorité. Afin d'élaborer une stratégie de lutte efficace, une collecte d'isolats de Phytophthora a été réalisée dans toutes les zone de production de cacao du pays. La strùcture et la diversité des populations de Phytophthora à été étudiée par les marqueurs biochimiques (isozYI!les) et moléculaires (RAPD). Les résultats obtenus, mettent en relation l'explosion de la maladie et la progression de P. megakarya dans le verger. Les résultats obtenus et La stratégie de lutte préconisée seront discutés. (Texte intégral

Prevalence of Color Blindness Among Students of Four Basic Schools in Koya City

Color blindness or color vision deficiency is X-linked recessive disorder that affects males more frequently than females. Abnormality in any one or all three cone photoreceptors caused Congenital disorders. Protanopia, deuteranopia results when long wavelength (L), photopigments (red), middle wavelength (M) and photopigments (green) are missing. This cross-sectional study was done to find out the prevalence of color vision deficiency among basic school students in Koya city with different ages and genders. The study was conducted in four basic schools that were present in Koya city (Zheen, Zanst, Nawroz and Najibaxan). All students screened by using Ishihara 24 plates. For the study (n=400, male=206, female=194, age=8-14) were selected &amp; examined. The result revealed that the prevalence rate of the deficiency in four primary schools 3.39% (7) in males and 0% females. &nbsp;The study concluded that color blindness is different between students in each school, cannot find the prevalence of Color blindness in females in each school and affects males more than females because color blindness is an X-linked recessive disorder. The aim of the study was to determine the prevalence of color blindness in some basic schools in Koya city, Kurdistan Region/ Iraq