First data from the EGLE experiment onboard the ISS

EGLE is a wide frequency band search- coil magnetometer designed and built at the Roma Tre University. It has been installed onboard the ISS by the Italian astronaut Roberto Vittori on April 25, 2005 within the LAZIO- EGLE experiment carried out during the ENEIDE Soyuz mission. The scope of the experiment is to test EGLE in space and to investigate geomagnetic field variations. The main applications of EGLE are the study of electromagnetic environment inside the ISS, the correlation of magnetic field data with particle fluxes detected by LAZIO particle detector, and the monitoring of ionospheric perturbations possibly caused by Earth seismic activity. Since continuous electromagnetic field measurements on board the ISS are important for diverse space applications, a magnetometer with a suitable design is requested. Appropriate solutions for these applications, which have been adopted by EGLE, are in particular the use of 1- Wire technology and the possibility to detect by means of a search- coil magnetometer a large portion of the ULF frequency band, usually measured by flux- gate probes. To investigate the topside ionosphere electromagnetic environment and stability of Van Allen radiation belts in relation with seismic and anthropogenic electromagnetic emissions, a specific satellite mission (the ESPERIA project) has been designed for the Italian Space Agency (ASI), and up to now a few instruments of its payload have been built and tested in space. One of them is exactly the EGLE search- coil magnetometer. The first magnetic observations performed by this instrument reveal to be promising and demand for a further and deeper analysis based on a longer time series of data.     

Mumford-Shah model for one-to-one edge matching.

This paper presents a new algorithm based on the Mumford-Shah model for simultaneously detecting the edge features of two images and jointly estimating a consistent set of transformations to match them. Compared to the current asymmetric methods in the literature, this fully symmetric method allows one to determine one-to-one correspondences between the edge features of two images. The entire variational model is realized in a multiscale framework of the finite element approximation. The optimization process is guided by an estimation minimization-type algorithm and an adaptive generalized gradient flow to guarantee a fast and smooth relaxation. The algorithm is tested on T1 and T2 magnetic resonance image data to study the parameter setting. We also present promising results of four applications of the proposed algorithm: interobject monomodal registration, retinal image registration, matching digital photographs of neurosurgery with its volume data, and motion estimation for frame interpolation.     

Trends of night-time hourly cloud-cover values over Manila Observatory: ground-based remote-sensing observations using a digital camera for 13 months

ABSTRACT

Night-time cloud detection provides data sets of cloud-cover percentage. Although night-time cloud-cover data sets from satellite-based instruments are common, these data sets do not have relatively high temporal resolution. To quantify local temporal cloud-cover variability and to attain long-term cloud-cover measurements, ground-based instruments would be the appropriate apparatus. In this study, a digital camera is used to continuously gather images of the night sky at 5-min intervals over Manila Observatory (14.64° N, 121.07° E). For the first time in Manila, ground-based remote-sensing data gathered from October 2015 to October 2016 are analysed for hourly cloud cover. The results indicate that wet season has relatively higher cloud-cover values (median >40%) as compared to the dry season (median <40%). Moreover, cloud-cover values are observed to decrease during the night. For the wet season, August having the highest cloud-cover values has the highest value of change of hourly cloud-cover percentage (?0.82% h^?1). For the dry season, February having the lowest cloud-cover values has the highest value of change of hourly cloud-cover percentage (?1.04% h^?1).     

Impact of doping on the mechanical properties of acicular mullite

Acicular mullite (ACM) is a highly porous ceramic with a needlelike microstructure. Next-generation ACM-based diesel particulate filters will require porosities >60%, making optimizing ACM's mechanical properties a key area of interest. A prior study determined that, for the range of microstructures evaluated, the elastic modulus, strength, and fracture toughness were largely functions of total porosity and not needle or pore size, consistent with the Gibson–Ashby foam model. Therefore, alternate strengthening and toughening methods were sought. Doping the ACM precursor with either MgO or Nd₂O₃ produced ACM microstructures that appeared similar but had differing bulk mechanical properties. The mechanical properties of the mullite needles, the intergranular glassy phase, and the mullite–glass interface of the ACMs were investigated, but no major differences were found. Using X-ray computed tomography, a 3D imaging technique, it was found that MgO-doping of the ACM created a less uniform, and thus weaker, microstructure than Nd₂O₃-doping.     

The role of long-term-memory and short-term-memory links in the Simon effect.

In Experiment 1, children performed a Simon task after a spatially compatible or incompatible task. Results showed a Simon effect after the spatially compatible task and a reversed Simon effect after the spatially incompatible task. In Experiments 2–5, an identical procedure was adopted with adult participants, who performed the Simon task immediately after, a day after, or a week after the spatial compatibility task. Experiment 6 established a baseline for the Simon effect. Results showed a Simon effect after the spatially compatible task and no Simon effect or a reversed Simon effect after the spatially incompatible task. A modified version of the computational model of M. Zorzi and C. Umiltà (1995) was used to compare possible accounts of the findings. The best account exploits 2 types of short-term-memory links between stimulus and response and their interaction with long-term-memory links. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Assessing regulatory emotional self-efficacy in three countries.

The Regulatory Emotional Self-Efficacy (RESE) scale was developed to assess perceived self-efficacy in managing negative (NEG) and in expressing positive (POS) affect (G. V. Caprara & M. Gerbino, 2001). In this study of young adults, the factorial structure of the RESE scale was found to be similar in Italy, the United States, and Bolivia. In addition to a factor for POS, NEG was represented by a second-order factor of 2 different negative affects: despondency-distress (DES) and anger-irritation (ANG). Overall, there was partial invariance at both metric and scalar levels across gender and countries. Discriminant and convergent validity of the RESE scale was further examined in the Italian sample. Stronger patterns of association of POS with prosocial behavior, of ANG with low aggressive behavior problems and irritability, and of DES with low anxiety/depressive problems and shyness and high self-esteem were found. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Influence of mediator immobilization on the electrochemically assisted microbial dechlorination of trichloroethene (TCE) and cis‐dichloroethene (cis‐DCE)

BACKGROUND: A bioelectrochemical process for trichloroethene (TCE) dechlorination was developed. In this new process, a solid‐state electrode polarized to ?450 mV versus the standard hydrogen electrode (SHE), in combination with a redox mediator (i.e., methyl viologen, MV) is employed as an electron donor for the microbial reductive dechlorination of TCE. In this study we compared the performance of the process with the redox mediator immobilized at the surface of electrodes or dissolved in the bulk liquid, using both a culture highly enriched in Desulfitobacterium spp., capable of dechlorinating TCE to cis‐dichloroethene (cis‐DCE), and a culture highly enriched in Dehalococcoides spp. capable of dechlorinating cis‐DCE to ethene. RESULTS: Short‐term potentiostatic (?450 mV versus SHE) experiments showed that TCE or cis‐DCE was dechlorinated both in the presence of soluble (500 µmol L^?1) and immobilized MV. However, TCE or cis‐DCE dechlorination rates with MV‐modified electrodes were remarkably lower than with soluble MV. Both cultures produced significant amounts of H₂ in the presence of electrically reduced, soluble MV, whereas no H₂ was produced when the mediator was immobilized at the electrode surface, regardless of the potential applied to the electrode, in the range ?425 to ?500 mV versus SHE. CONCLUSIONS: The process, operated with modified electrodes, supports the microbial dechlorination of TCE to ethene. Immobilization not only allows retention of the mediator within the system, but also increases process efficiency by preventing bioelectrochemical H₂ formation. On the other hand, strategies to increase dechlorination rates with modified electrodes need to be developed. Copyright © 2009 Society of Chemical Industry     

Regulatory Noncoding and Predicted Pathogenic Coding Variants of CCR5 Predispose to Severe COVID-19

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) found locus 3p21.31 associated with severe COVID-19. CCR5 resides at the same locus and, given its known biological role in other infection diseases, we investigated if common noncoding and rare coding variants, affecting CCR5, can predispose to severe COVID-19. We combined single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that met the suggestive significance level (P ≤ 1 × 10⁻⁵) at the 3p21.31 locus in public GWAS datasets (6406 COVID-19 hospitalized patients and 902,088 controls) with gene expression data from 208 lung tissues, Hi-C, and Chip-seq data. Through whole exome sequencing (WES), we explored rare coding variants in 147 severe COVID-19 patients. We identified three SNPs (rs9845542, rs12639314, and rs35951367) associated with severe COVID-19 whose risk alleles correlated with low CCR5 expression in lung tissues. The rs35951367 resided in a CTFC binding site that interacts with CCR5 gene in lung tissues and was confirmed to be associated with severe COVID-19 in two independent datasets. We also identified a rare coding variant (rs34418657) associated with the risk of developing severe COVID-19. Our results suggest a biological role of CCR5 in the progression of COVID-19 as common and rare genetic variants can increase the risk of developing severe COVID-19 by affecting the functions of CCR5.