Lunar activity from recent gas release

Samples of material returned from the Moon have established that widespread lunar volcanism ceased about 3.2 Gyr ago. Crater statistics and degradation models indicate that last-gasp eruptions of thin basalt flows continued until less than 1.0 Gyr ago, but the Moon is now considered to be unaffected by internal processes today, other than weak tidally driven moonquakes and young fault systems. It is therefore widely assumed that only impact craters have reshaped the lunar landscape over the past billion years. Here we report that patches of the lunar regolith in the Ina structure were recently removed. The preservation state of relief, the number of superimposed small craters, and the 'freshness' (spectral maturity) of the regolith together indicate that features within this structure must be as young as 10 Myr, and perhaps are still forming today. We propose that these features result from recent, episodic out-gassing from deep within the Moon. Such out-gassing probably contributed to the radiogenic gases detected during past lunar missions. Future monitoring (including Earth-based observations) should reveal the composition of the gas, yielding important clues to volatiles archived at great depth over the past 4-4.5 Gyr.     

Multiobjective routing in multiservice MPLS networks with traffic splitting — A network flow approach

A multiobjective routing model for Multiprotocol Label Switching networks with multiple service types and traffic splitting is presented in this paper.The routing problem is formulated as a multiobjective mixed-integer program,where the considered objectives are the minimization of the bandwidth routing cost and the minimization of the load cost in the network links with a constraint on the maximal splitting of traffic trunks.Two different exact methods are developed for solving the formulated problem,one based on the classical constraint method and another based on a modified constraint method.Avery extensive experimental study,with results on network performance measures in various reference test networks and in randomly generated networks,is also presented and its results are discussed.     

Induced and heavy aggregation operators with distance measures

This paper introduces a new aggregation model by using induced and heavy aggregation operators in distances measures such as the Hamming distance. It is called the induced heavy ordered weighted averaging (OWA) distance (IHOWAD) operator. This paper studies some of its main properties and a wide range of particular cases such as the induced heavy OWA (IHOWA) operator, the induced OWA distance (IOWAD) operator and the heavy OWA distance (HOWAD) operator. This approach is generalized by using generalized and quasi-arithmetic means obtaining the induced generalized IHOWAD (IGHOWAD) operator and the Quasi-IHOWAD operator. An application of the new approach in a decision making problem regarding the selection of strategies is developed.     

Generalization of the linguistic aggregation operator and its application in decision making

A generalization of the linguistic aggregation functions (or operators) is presented by using generalized and quasiarithmetic means.Firstly,the linguistic weighted generalized mean (LWGM) and the linguistic generalized ordered weighted averaging (LGOWA) operator are introduced.These aggregation functions use linguistic information and generalized means in the weighted average (WA) and in the ordered weighted averaging (OWA) function.They are very useful for uncertain situations where the available information cannot be assessed with numerical values but it is possible to use linguistic assessments.These aggregation operators generalize a wide range of aggregation operators that use linguistic information such as the linguistic generalized mean (LGM),the linguistic OWA (LOWA) operator and the linguistic ordered weighted quadratic averaging (LOWQA) operator.We also introduce a further generalization by using quasi-arithmetic means instead of generalized means obtaining the quasi-LWA and the quasi-LOWA operator.Finally,we develop an application of the new approach where we analyze a decision making problem regarding the selection of strategies.     

Arts,Culture and Science and Their Relationships

The context of this analysis is the golden years of the decade of the 1960s that served as a backdrop for consolidating capitalism and the globalized world. The aim is to analyze, understand and establish possible connections between the arts in general and the world in which modern society operates. This is a theoretical essay anchored in theoretical assumptions of sociology, arts and the culture of the globalized world and built on the practical experience of these researchers. We use the interpretative approach and technique of hermeneutic phenomenology to give meaning to historical events and the cultural and artistic implications of these events in the rise of science and technology. A systemic examination supports the relationship between art, culture, science and technology. The evidence shows that artistic and cultural issues are essential to make sense of life in society and in the absence of such basis, the world would be meaningless and humans would lose a sense of direction. It can be concluded that the arts are becoming increasingly relevant as the virtual world becomes large-scale and truly global, and that the development of science and technology benefits from the rise of the cultural and artistic world of today. Finally, the correspondence between the artistic and cultural world and the current scientific and technological development confirms the emergence of a globalized, digitalised (virtual) knowledge society.     

A plant pathogen virulence factor inhibits the eukaryotic proteasome by a novel mechanism

Pathogenic bacteria often use effector molecules to increase virulence. In most cases, the mode of action of effectors remains unknown. Strains of Pseudomonas syringae pv. syringae (Pss) secrete syringolin A (SylA), a product of a mixed non-ribosomal peptide/polyketide synthetase, in planta. Here we identify SylA as a virulence factor because a SylA-negative mutant in Pss strain B728a obtained by gene disruption was markedly less virulent on its host, Phaseolus vulgaris (bean). We show that SylA irreversibly inhibits all three catalytic activities of eukaryotic proteasomes, thus adding proteasome inhibition to the repertoire of modes of action of virulence factors. The crystal structure of the yeast proteasome in complex with SylA revealed a novel mechanism of covalent binding to the catalytic subunits. Thus, SylA defines a new class of proteasome inhibitors that includes glidobactin A (GlbA), a structurally related compound from an unknown species of the order Burkholderiales, for which we demonstrate a similar proteasome inhibition mechanism. As proteasome inhibitors are a promising class of anti-tumour agents, the discovery of a novel family of inhibitory natural products, which we refer to as syrbactins, may also have implications for the development of anti-cancer drugs. Homologues of SylA and GlbA synthetase genes are found in some other pathogenic bacteria, including the human pathogen Burkholderia pseudomallei, the causative agent of melioidosis. It is thus possible that these bacteria are capable of producing proteasome inhibitors of the syrbactin class.