Protective role of gamma interferon during the recall response to influenza virus

During secondary immune responses to influenza virus, virus-specific T memory cells are a major source of gamma interferon (IFN-gamma). We assessed the contribution of IFN-gamma to heterologous protection against the A/WSN/33 (H1N1) virus of wild-type and IFN-gamma-/- mice previously immunized with the A/HK/68 (H3N2) virus. The IFN-gamma-/- mice displayed significantly reduced survival rates subsequent to a challenge with various doses of the A/WSN/33 virus. This was associated with an impaired ability of the IFN-gamma-/- mice to completely clear the pulmonary virus by day 7 after the challenge, although significant reduction of the virus titers was noted. However, the IFN-gamma-/- mice developed type A influenza virus cross-reactive cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) similar to the wild-type mice, as demonstrated by both cytotoxicity and a limiting-dilution assay for the estimation of CTL precursor frequency. The pulmonary recruitment of T cells in IFN-gamma-/- mice was not dramatically affected, and the percentage of CD4(+) and CD8(+) T cells was similar to that of wild-type mice. The T cells from IFN-gamma-/- mice did not display a significant switch toward a Th2 profile. Furthermore, the IFN-gamma-/- mice retained the ability to mount significant titers of WSN and HK virus-specific hemagglutination-inhibiting antibodies. Together, these results are consistent with a protective role of IFN-gamma during the heterologous response against influenza virus independently of the generation and local recruitment of cross-reactive CTLs.     

Stay with the flow: How macroinvertebrate communities recover during the rewetting phase in Alpine streams affected by an exceptional drought

Droughts are affecting an increasing number of lotic ecosystems worldwide due to the combined effects of climatic and anthropogenic pressures. Unlike naturally intermittent rivers, where the drying phase is a part of the annual flow regime, water scarcity in Alpine rivers represents a relatively recent phenomenon and, therefore, a major threat for the biodiversity of these lotic ecosystems. However, Alpine stream community response to drought is still poorly investigated. Here, we assess the recovery of macroinvertebrates in two Alpine streams after a supraseasonal drought. As water returned, a total of 10 sampling sessions were carried out, and temporal patterns in diversity, density, and taxonomic composition of benthic communities, as well as in the percentage of functional feeding groups, were investigated. We found that the resistance of invertebrate communities in Alpine streams is generally low: drought markedly reduced the diversity and density of macroinvertebrates. Conversely, our results suggest that the passive dispersal by drift from the upstream river sections seems the most probable mechanism promoting the post‐drought recovery. Nevertheless, this resilience ability appears to be stream specific and influenced by intrinsic stream characteristics, including the flow permanence and distance from the nearest upstream perennial reach. This work sheds light on the ecological consequences of droughts on macroinvertebrate communities. As flow intermittency in Alpine areas is expected to intensify under current global change scenarios, results of this study provide important information to predict changes in the taxonomic composition and diversity of macroinvertebrate communities.     

Arrays of anamorphic phase-matched Fresnel elements for diode-to-fiber coupling

A method for designing microlens arrays that inherently takes into account application requirements and fabrication constraints is presented. Elements with numerical apertures of up to 0.5 have been designed and fabricated by laser beam writing in photoresist and replication in plastic material. In a laser-diode-to-fiber array coupling experiment, an overall optical throughput of 60% was achieved. By means of anamorphic microlens arrays, correction of the laser-diode longitudinal astigmatism and circularization of the image-plane irradiance distribution are demonstrated.     

Simultaneous Localization and Mapping Using Rao-Blackwellized Particle Filters in Multi Robot Systems

In this paper we investigate the problem of Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM) for a multi robot system. Relaxing some assumptions that characterize related work we propose an application of Rao-Blackwellized Particle Filters (RBPF) for the purpose of cooperatively estimating SLAM posterior. We consider a realistic setup in which the robots start from unknown initial poses (relative locations are unknown too), and travel in the environment in order to build a shared representation of the latter. The robots are required to exchange a small amount of information only when a rendezvous event occurs and to measure relative poses during the meeting. As a consequence the approach also applies when using an unreliable wireless channel or short range communication technologies (bluetooth, RFId, etc.). Moreover it allows to take into account the uncertainty in relative pose measurements. The proposed technique, which constitutes a distributed solution to the multi robot SLAM problem, is further validated through simulations and experimental tests.     

Finite Element Methods for a System of Dispersive Equations

The present study is concerned with the numerical approximation of periodic solutions of systems of Korteweg–de Vries type, coupled through their nonlinear terms. We construct, analyze and numerically validate two types of schemes that differ in their treatment of the third derivatives appearing in the system. One approach preserves a certain important invariant of the system, up to round-off error, while the other, somewhat more standard method introduces a measure of dissipation. For both methods, we prove convergence of a semi-discrete approximation and highlight differences in the basic assumptions required for each. Numerical experiments are also conducted with the aim of ascertaining the accuracy of the two schemes when integrations are made over long time intervals.     

Simflowny: A general-purpose platform for the management of physical models and simulation problems

Simflowny is a software platform which aims to formalize the main elements of a simulation flow. It allows users to manage (i) formal representations of physical models based on Initial Value Problems (hyperbolic, parabolic and mixed-type partial differential equations), (ii) simulation problems based on such models, and (iii) discretization schemes to translate the problem to a finite mesh. Additionally, Simflowny generates automatically code for general-purpose simulation frameworks. This paper first presents an introductory example of such problems. Then, formal representations are explained. Afterwards, it summarizes the platform’s architecture. Finally, validation results are provided.     

An Analysis of Public Clouds Elasticity in the Execution of Scientific Applications: a Survey

Elasticity can be seen as the ability of a system to increase or decrease the computing resources allocated in a dynamic and on demand way. It is an important feature provided by cloud computing, that has been widely used in web applications and is also gaining attention in the scientific community. Considering the possibilities of using elasticity in this context, a question arises: “Are the available public cloud solutions suitable to provide elasticity to scientific applications?” To answer the question, in a first moment we present a survey on the use of cloud computing in scientific scenarios, providing an overview of the subject. Next, we describe the elasticity mechanisms offered by major public cloud providers and analyzes the limitations of the solutions in providing elasticity for scientific applications. As the main contribution of the article, we also present an analysis over some initiatives that are being developed to overcome the current challenges. In our opinion, current computational clouds are developing rapidly but have not yet reached the necessary maturity level to meet all scientific applications elasticity requirements. We expect that in the coming years the efforts being taken by numerous researchers in this area identify and address these challenges and lead to better and more mature technologies that will improve cloud computing practices.     

原料油汽化特性对催化裂化反应结焦过程影响的CFD模拟

为考察原料油汽化特性影响,在一套百万吨级工业FCC提升管中,基于多相欧拉模型耦合EMMS曳力和传质、油滴汽化和十二集总反应动力学模型,采用三维CFD模拟研究气液固三相流动、汽化、反应、结焦的复杂过程,新开发结焦预测模型定量预测结焦状况,对比研究不同原料油雾化液滴粒径和起始汽化温度下各相和反应组分浓度场、温度场分布和结焦程度。结果表明,模拟方法可较准确预测汽化、反应生焦和结焦过程,不同雾化液滴粒径和起始汽化温度通过流场分布和汽化快慢影响液相油滴汽化率和反应转化率;合适液滴粒径(60 μm)和起始汽化温度(654 K)可提升轻油、汽油、液化石油气目标产品收率并改善结焦程度。     

FCC反应过程的CFD模拟进展

流化催化裂化（fluid catalytic cracking,FCC）工艺是石油炼制中的重要转化工艺,用于生产汽油、柴油、轻质烯烃等重要化工原料。FCC反应过程的CFD模拟有助于理解FCC反应器中流动和反应行为,辅助设计和优化FCC工艺设备,最终指导工业生产和实现虚拟调控和放大。从与FCC反应模拟相关的多相流动模型、反应动力学模型以及流动与反应之间耦合等方面做了回顾和总结。在流动与反应耦合研究方面,从湍流模型的使用、流动结构的影响、精细化模型的发展以及原油汽化模型的重要性这4个角度做了分析比较及总结。基于已有的研究工作,认为虽然很多研究表明CFD模拟能较好地揭示工业FCC提升管反应器内的流动和反应行为,但缺乏采用同一方法实现从小试到工业反应器模拟放大的实例,从侧面反映了当前的FCC理论模型和模拟技术还远未达到可以代替实验的水平。展望未来的FCC反应模拟,建议从模型精细度和计算效率上加强研发,并在此两方面寻求平衡,最终实现虚拟调控。     

Analytical and experimental characterisation of high-precision flexural pivots subjected to lateral loads

This work addresses the parasitic motion of high-precision rotation mechanisms based on flexural pivots subjected to lateral loads. This case has great importance from the mechanical design point of view, since generally flexural pivots support mechanical elements of considerable weight and their rotation is obtained by loading the pivot with a force instead of a pure couple.

From an analytical point of view, the problem is approached by studying the large deflections of an elastic frame. The equilibrium equations are considered and a solution based on the Newton–Raphson method is proposed. This approach is compared with other theoretical approaches. An experimental assessment performed by using laser interferometric techniques is presented. It is shown that the proposed solution allows the influence of lateral loads to be clearly established and proves to be adequate when the most common cases of limited lateral loads and rotations are considered.