Denni Algorithm An Enhanced Of SMS (Scan, Move and Sort) Algorithm

Science.gov (United States)

Aprilsyah Lubis, Denni; Salim Sitompul, Opim; Marwan; Tulus; Andri Budiman, M.

2017-12-01

Sorting has been a profound area for the algorithmic researchers, and many resources are invested to suggest a more working sorting algorithm. For this purpose many existing sorting algorithms were observed in terms of the efficiency of the algorithmic complexity. Efficient sorting is important to optimize the use of other algorithms that require sorted lists to work correctly. Sorting has been considered as a fundamental problem in the study of algorithms that due to many reasons namely, the necessary to sort information is inherent in many applications, algorithms often use sorting as a key subroutine, in algorithm design there are many essential techniques represented in the body of sorting algorithms, and many engineering issues come to the fore when implementing sorting algorithms., Many algorithms are very well known for sorting the unordered lists, and one of the well-known algorithms that make the process of sorting to be more economical and efficient is SMS (Scan, Move and Sort) algorithm, an enhancement of Quicksort invented Rami Mansi in 2010. This paper presents a new sorting algorithm called Denni-algorithm. The Denni algorithm is considered as an enhancement on the SMS algorithm in average, and worst cases. The Denni algorithm is compared with the SMS algorithm and the results were promising.

What is a Sorting Function?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Henglein, Fritz

2009-01-01

What is a sorting function—not a sorting function for a given ordering relation, but a sorting function with nothing given? Formulating four basic properties of sorting algorithms as defining requirements, we arrive at intrinsic notions of sorting and stable sorting: A function is a sorting...... are derivable without compromising data abstraction. Finally we point out that stable sorting functions as default representations of ordering relations have the advantage of permitting linear-time sorting algorithms; inequality tests forfeit this possibility....... function if and only it is an intrinsically parametric permutation function. It is a stable sorting function if and only if it is an intrinsically stable permutation function. We show that ordering relations can be represented isomorphically as inequality tests, comparators and stable sorting functions...

CellSort: a support vector machine tool for optimizing fluorescence-activated cell sorting and reducing experimental effort.

Science.gov (United States)

Yu, Jessica S; Pertusi, Dante A; Adeniran, Adebola V; Tyo, Keith E J

2017-03-15

High throughput screening by fluorescence activated cell sorting (FACS) is a common task in protein engineering and directed evolution. It can also be a rate-limiting step if high false positive or negative rates necessitate multiple rounds of enrichment. Current FACS software requires the user to define sorting gates by intuition and is practically limited to two dimensions. In cases when multiple rounds of enrichment are required, the software cannot forecast the enrichment effort required. We have developed CellSort, a support vector machine (SVM) algorithm that identifies optimal sorting gates based on machine learning using positive and negative control populations. CellSort can take advantage of more than two dimensions to enhance the ability to distinguish between populations. We also present a Bayesian approach to predict the number of sorting rounds required to enrich a population from a given library size. This Bayesian approach allowed us to determine strategies for biasing the sorting gates in order to reduce the required number of enrichment rounds. This algorithm should be generally useful for improve sorting outcomes and reducing effort when using FACS. Source code available at http://tyolab.northwestern.edu/tools/ . k-tyo@northwestern.edu. Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com

Comparison of spike-sorting algorithms for future hardware implementation.

Science.gov (United States)

Gibson, Sarah; Judy, Jack W; Markovic, Dejan

2008-01-01

Applications such as brain-machine interfaces require hardware spike sorting in order to (1) obtain single-unit activity and (2) perform data reduction for wireless transmission of data. Such systems must be low-power, low-area, high-accuracy, automatic, and able to operate in real time. Several detection and feature extraction algorithms for spike sorting are described briefly and evaluated in terms of accuracy versus computational complexity. The nonlinear energy operator method is chosen as the optimal spike detection algorithm, being most robust over noise and relatively simple. The discrete derivatives method [1] is chosen as the optimal feature extraction method, maintaining high accuracy across SNRs with a complexity orders of magnitude less than that of traditional methods such as PCA.

A Simple Deep Learning Method for Neuronal Spike Sorting

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Kai; Wu, Haifeng; Zeng, Yu

2017-10-01

Spike sorting is one of key technique to understand brain activity. With the development of modern electrophysiology technology, some recent multi-electrode technologies have been able to record the activity of thousands of neuronal spikes simultaneously. The spike sorting in this case will increase the computational complexity of conventional sorting algorithms. In this paper, we will focus spike sorting on how to reduce the complexity, and introduce a deep learning algorithm, principal component analysis network (PCANet) to spike sorting. The introduced method starts from a conventional model and establish a Toeplitz matrix. Through the column vectors in the matrix, we trains a PCANet, where some eigenvalue vectors of spikes could be extracted. Finally, support vector machine (SVM) is used to sort spikes. In experiments, we choose two groups of simulated data from public databases availably and compare this introduced method with conventional methods. The results indicate that the introduced method indeed has lower complexity with the same sorting errors as the conventional methods.

The cellular endosomal sorting complex required for transport pathway is not involved in avian metapneumovirus budding in a virus-like-particle expression system.

Science.gov (United States)

Weng, Yuejin; Lu, Wuxun; Harmon, Aaron; Xiang, Xiaoxiao; Deng, Qiji; Song, Minxun; Wang, Dan; Yu, Qingzhong; Li, Feng

2011-05-01

Avian metapneumovirus (AMPV) is a paramyxovirus that principally causes respiratory disease and egg production drops in turkeys and chickens. Together with its closely related human metapneumovirus (HMPV), they comprise the genus Metapneumovirus in the family Paramyxoviridae. Little is currently known about the mechanisms involved in the budding of metapneumovirus. By using AMPV as a model system, we showed that the matrix (M) protein by itself was insufficient to form virus-like-particles (VLPs). The incorporation of M into VLPs was shown to occur only when both the viral nucleoprotein (N) and the fusion (F) proteins were co-expressed. Furthermore, we provided evidence indicating that two YSKL and YAGL segments encoded within the M protein were not a functional late domain, and the endosomal sorting complex required for transport (ESCRT) machinery was not involved in metapneumovirus budding, consistent with a recent observation that human respiratory syncytial virus, closely related to HMPV, uses an ESCRT-independent budding mechanism. Taken together, these results suggest that metapneumovirus budding is independent of the ESCRT pathway and the minimal budding machinery described here will aid our future understanding of metapneumovirus assembly and egress.

The endosomal sorting complex required for transport (ESCRT) is required for the sensitivity of yeast cells to nickel ions in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Science.gov (United States)

Luo, Chong; Cao, Chunlei; Jiang, Linghuo

2016-05-01

Nickel is one of the toxic environment metal pollutants and is linked to various human diseases. In this study, through a functional genomics approach we have identified 16 nickel-sensitive and 22 nickel-tolerant diploid deletion mutants of budding yeast genes, many of which are novel players in the regulation of nickel homeostasis. The 16 nickel-sensitive mutants are of genes mainly involved in the protein folding, modification and destination and the cellular transport processes, while the 22 nickel-tolerant mutants are of genes encoding components of ESCRT complexes as well as protein factors involved in both the cell wall integrity maintenance and the vacuolar protein sorting process. In consistence with their phenotypes, most of these nickel-sensitive mutants show reduced intracellular nickel contents, while the majority of these nickel-tolerant mutants show elevated intracellular nickel contents, as compared to the wild type in response to nickel stress. Our data provides a basis for our understanding the regulation of nickel homeostasis and molecular mechanisms of nickel-induced human pathogenesis. © FEMS 2016. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Neuronal spike sorting based on radial basis function neural networks

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Taghavi Kani M

2011-02-01

Full Text Available "nBackground: Studying the behavior of a society of neurons, extracting the communication mechanisms of brain with other tissues, finding treatment for some nervous system diseases and designing neuroprosthetic devices, require an algorithm to sort neuralspikes automatically. However, sorting neural spikes is a challenging task because of the low signal to noise ratio (SNR of the spikes. The main purpose of this study was to design an automatic algorithm for classifying neuronal spikes that are emitted from a specific region of the nervous system."n "nMethods: The spike sorting process usually consists of three stages: detection, feature extraction and sorting. We initially used signal statistics to detect neural spikes. Then, we chose a limited number of typical spikes as features and finally used them to train a radial basis function (RBF neural network to sort the spikes. In most spike sorting devices, these signals are not linearly discriminative. In order to solve this problem, the aforesaid RBF neural network was used."n "nResults: After the learning process, our proposed algorithm classified any arbitrary spike. The obtained results showed that even though the proposed Radial Basis Spike Sorter (RBSS reached to the same error as the previous methods, however, the computational costs were much lower compared to other algorithms. Moreover, the competitive points of the proposed algorithm were its good speed and low computational complexity."n "nConclusion: Regarding the results of this study, the proposed algorithm seems to serve the purpose of procedures that require real-time processing and spike sorting.

Sorting on STAR. [CDC computer algorithm timing comparison

Science.gov (United States)

Stone, H. S.

1978-01-01

Timing comparisons are given for three sorting algorithms written for the CDC STAR computer. One algorithm is Hoare's (1962) Quicksort, which is the fastest or nearly the fastest sorting algorithm for most computers. A second algorithm is a vector version of Quicksort that takes advantage of the STAR's vector operations. The third algorithm is an adaptation of Batcher's (1968) sorting algorithm, which makes especially good use of vector operations but has a complexity of N(log N)-squared as compared with a complexity of N log N for the Quicksort algorithms. In spite of its worse complexity, Batcher's sorting algorithm is competitive with the serial version of Quicksort for vectors up to the largest that can be treated by STAR. Vector Quicksort outperforms the other two algorithms and is generally preferred. These results indicate that unusual instruction sets can introduce biases in program execution time that counter results predicted by worst-case asymptotic complexity analysis.

Actin-Sorting Nexin 27 (SNX27)-Retromer Complex Mediates Rapid Parathyroid Hormone Receptor Recycling*

Science.gov (United States)

McGarvey, Jennifer C.; Xiao, Kunhong; Bowman, Shanna L.; Mamonova, Tatyana; Zhang, Qiangmin; Bisello, Alessandro; Sneddon, W. Bruce; Ardura, Juan A.; Jean-Alphonse, Frederic; Vilardaga, Jean-Pierre; Puthenveedu, Manojkumar A.; Friedman, Peter A.

2016-01-01

The G protein-coupled parathyroid hormone receptor (PTHR) regulates mineral-ion homeostasis and bone remodeling. Upon parathyroid hormone (PTH) stimulation, the PTHR internalizes into early endosomes and subsequently traffics to the retromer complex, a sorting platform on early endosomes that promotes recycling of surface receptors. The C terminus of the PTHR contains a type I PDZ ligand that binds PDZ domain-containing proteins. Mass spectrometry identified sorting nexin 27 (SNX27) in isolated endosomes as a PTHR binding partner. PTH treatment enriched endosomal PTHR. SNX27 contains a PDZ domain and serves as a cargo selector for the retromer complex. VPS26, VPS29, and VPS35 retromer subunits were isolated with PTHR in endosomes from cells stimulated with PTH. Molecular dynamics and protein binding studies establish that PTHR and SNX27 interactions depend on the PDZ recognition motif in PTHR and the PDZ domain of SNX27. Depletion of either SNX27 or VPS35 or actin depolymerization decreased the rate of PTHR recycling following agonist stimulation. Mutating the PDZ ligand of PTHR abolished the interaction with SNX27 but did not affect the overall rate of recycling, suggesting that PTHR may directly engage the retromer complex. Coimmunoprecipitation and overlay experiments show that both intact and mutated PTHR bind retromer through the VPS26 protomer and sequentially assemble a ternary complex with PTHR and SNX27. SNX27-independent recycling may involve N-ethylmaleimide-sensitive factor, which binds both PDZ intact and mutant PTHRs. We conclude that PTHR recycles rapidly through at least two pathways, one involving the ASRT complex of actin, SNX27, and retromer and another possibly involving N-ethylmaleimide-sensitive factor. PMID:27008860

Perbandingan Kecepatan Gabungan Algoritma Quick Sort dan Merge Sort dengan Insertion Sort, Bubble Sort dan Selection Sort

OpenAIRE

Al Rivan, Muhammad Ezar

2017-01-01

Ordering is one of the process done before doing data processing. The sorting algorithm has its own strengths and weaknesses. By taking strengths of each algorithm then combined can be a better algorithm. Quick Sort and Merge Sort are algorithms that divide the data into parts and each part divide again into sub-section until one element. Usually one element join with others and then sorted by. In this experiment data divide into parts that have size not more than threshold. This part then so...

On the Construction of Sorted Reactive Systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Birkedal, Lars; Debois, Søren; Hildebrandt, Thomas

2008-01-01

We develop a theory of sorted bigraphical reactive systems. Every application of bigraphs in the literature has required an extension, a sorting, of pure bigraphs. In turn, every such application has required a redevelopment of the theory of pure bigraphical reactive systems for the sorting at hand...... bigraphs. Technically, we give our construction for ordinary reactive systems, then lift it to bigraphical reactive systems. As such, we give also a construction of sortings for ordinary reactive systems. This construction is an improvement over previous attempts in that it produces smaller and much more...

Queue and stack sorting algorithm optimization and performance analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Qian, Mingzhu; Wang, Xiaobao

2018-04-01

Sorting algorithm is one of the basic operation of a variety of software development, in data structures course specializes in all kinds of sort algorithm. The performance of the sorting algorithm is directly related to the efficiency of the software. A lot of excellent scientific research queue is constantly optimizing algorithm, algorithm efficiency better as far as possible, the author here further research queue combined with stacks of sorting algorithms, the algorithm is mainly used for alternating operation queue and stack storage properties, Thus avoiding the need for a large number of exchange or mobile operations in the traditional sort. Before the existing basis to continue research, improvement and optimization, the focus on the optimization of the time complexity of the proposed optimization and improvement, The experimental results show that the improved effectively, at the same time and the time complexity and space complexity of the algorithm, the stability study corresponding research. The improvement and optimization algorithm, improves the practicability.

Stability-based sorting: The forgotten process behind (not only) biological evolution.

Science.gov (United States)

Toman, Jan; Flegr, Jaroslav

2017-12-21

Natural selection is considered to be the main process that drives biological evolution. It requires selected entities to originate dependent upon one another by the means of reproduction or copying, and for the progeny to inherit the qualities of their ancestors. However, natural selection is a manifestation of a more general persistence principle, whose temporal consequences we propose to name "stability-based sorting" (SBS). Sorting based on static stability, i.e., SBS in its strict sense and usual conception, favours characters that increase the persistence of their holders and act on all material and immaterial entities. Sorted entities could originate independently from each other, are not required to propagate and need not exhibit heredity. Natural selection is a specific form of SBS-sorting based on dynamic stability. It requires some form of heredity and is based on competition for the largest difference between the speed of generating its own copies and their expiration. SBS in its strict sense and selection thus have markedly different evolutionary consequences that are stressed in this paper. In contrast to selection, which is opportunistic, SBS is able to accumulate even momentarily detrimental characters that are advantageous for the long-term persistence of sorted entities. However, it lacks the amplification effect based on the preferential propagation of holders of advantageous characters. Thus, it works slower than selection and normally is unable to create complex adaptations. From a long-term perspective, SBS is a decisive force in evolution-especially macroevolution. SBS offers a new explanation for numerous evolutionary phenomena, including broad distribution and persistence of sexuality, altruistic behaviour, horizontal gene transfer, patterns of evolutionary stasis, planetary homeostasis, increasing ecosystem resistance to disturbances, and the universal decline of disparity in the evolution of metazoan lineages. SBS acts on all levels in

ALGORITHM FOR SORTING GROUPED DATA

Science.gov (United States)

Evans, J. D.

1994-01-01

It is often desirable to sort data sets in ascending or descending order. This becomes more difficult for grouped data, i.e., multiple sets of data, where each set of data involves several measurements or related elements. The sort becomes increasingly cumbersome when more than a few elements exist for each data set. In order to achieve an efficient sorting process, an algorithm has been devised in which the maximum most significant element is found, and then compared to each element in succession. The program was written to handle the daily temperature readings of the Voyager spacecraft, particularly those related to the special tracking requirements of Voyager 2. By reducing each data set to a single representative number, the sorting process becomes very easy. The first step in the process is to reduce the data set of width 'n' to a data set of width '1'. This is done by representing each data set by a polynomial of length 'n' based on the differences of the maximum and minimum elements. These single numbers are then sorted and converted back to obtain the original data sets. Required input data are the name of the data file to read and sort, and the starting and ending record numbers. The package includes a sample data file, containing 500 sets of data with 5 elements in each set. This program will perform a sort of the 500 data sets in 3 - 5 seconds on an IBM PC-AT with a hard disk; on a similarly equipped IBM PC-XT the time is under 10 seconds. This program is written in BASIC (specifically the Microsoft QuickBasic compiler) for interactive execution and has been implemented on the IBM PC computer series operating under PC-DOS with a central memory requirement of approximately 40K of 8 bit bytes. A hard disk is desirable for speed considerations, but is not required. This program was developed in 1986.

A novel sort of adaptive complex synchronizations of two indistinguishable chaotic complex nonlinear models with uncertain parameters and its applications in secure communications

Science.gov (United States)

Mahmoud, Emad E.; Abood, Fatimah S.

In this paper, we will demonstrate the adaptive complex anti-lag synchronization (CALS) of two indistinguishable complex chaotic nonlinear systems with the parameters which are uncertain. The significance of CALS is not advised well in the literature yet. The CALS contains or consolidate two sorts of synchronizations (anti-lag synchronization ALS and lag synchronization LS). The state variable of the master system synchronizes with an alternate state variable of the slave system. Depending on the function of Lyapunov, a plan is orchestrated to achieve CALS of chaotic attractors of complex systems with unverifiable parameters. CALS of two indistinguishable complexes of Lü systems is viewed as, for example, an occasion for affirming the likelihood of the plan exhibited. In physics, we can see complex chaotic systems in numerous different applications, for example, applied sciences or engineering. With a specific end goal to affirm the proposed synchronization plan viability and demonstrate the hypothetical outcomes, we can compute the numerical simulation. The above outcomes will give the hypothetical establishment to the secure communication applications. CALS of complex chaotic systems in which a state variable of the master system synchronizes with an alternate state variable of the slave system is an encouraging sort of synchronization as it contributes excellent security in secure communication. Amid this secure communication, the synchronization between transmitter and collector is shut and message signals are recouped. The encryption and restoration of the signals are simulated numerically.

An empirical study on SAJQ (Sorting Algorithm for Join Queries

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hassan I. Mathkour

2010-06-01

Full Text Available Most queries that applied on database management systems (DBMS depend heavily on the performance of the used sorting algorithm. In addition to have an efficient sorting algorithm, as a primary feature, stability of such algorithms is a major feature that is needed in performing DBMS queries. In this paper, we study a new Sorting Algorithm for Join Queries (SAJQ that has both advantages of being efficient and stable. The proposed algorithm takes the advantage of using the m-way-merge algorithm in enhancing its time complexity. SAJQ performs the sorting operation in a time complexity of O(nlogm, where n is the length of the input array and m is number of sub-arrays used in sorting. An unsorted input array of length n is arranged into m sorted sub-arrays. The m-way-merge algorithm merges the sorted m sub-arrays into the final output sorted array. The proposed algorithm keeps the stability of the keys intact. An analytical proof has been conducted to prove that, in the worst case, the proposed algorithm has a complexity of O(nlogm. Also, a set of experiments has been performed to investigate the performance of the proposed algorithm. The experimental results have shown that the proposed algorithm outperforms other Stable–Sorting algorithms that are designed for join-based queries.

Towards understanding and managing the learning process in mail sorting.

Science.gov (United States)

Berglund, M; Karltun, A

2012-01-01

This paper was based on case study research at the Swedish Mail Service Division and it addresses learning time to sort mail at new districts and means to support the learning process on an individual as well as organizational level. The study population consisted of 46 postmen and one team leader in the Swedish Mail Service Division. Data were collected through measurements of time for mail sorting, interviews and a focus group. The study showed that learning to sort mail was a much more complex process and took more time than expected by management. Means to support the learning process included clarification of the relationship between sorting and the topology of the district, a good work environment, increased support from colleagues and management, and a thorough introduction for new postmen. The identified means to support the learning process require an integration of human, technological and organizational aspects. The study further showed that increased operations flexibility cannot be reinforced without a systems perspective and thorough knowledge about real work activities and that ergonomists can aid businesses to acquire this knowledge.

Parallel integer sorting with medium and fine-scale parallelism

Science.gov (United States)

Dagum, Leonardo

1993-01-01

Two new parallel integer sorting algorithms, queue-sort and barrel-sort, are presented and analyzed in detail. These algorithms do not have optimal parallel complexity, yet they show very good performance in practice. Queue-sort designed for fine-scale parallel architectures which allow the queueing of multiple messages to the same destination. Barrel-sort is designed for medium-scale parallel architectures with a high message passing overhead. The performance results from the implementation of queue-sort on a Connection Machine CM-2 and barrel-sort on a 128 processor iPSC/860 are given. The two implementations are found to be comparable in performance but not as good as a fully vectorized bucket sort on the Cray YMP.

Binar Sort: A Linear Generalized Sorting Algorithm

OpenAIRE

Gilreath, William F.

2008-01-01

Sorting is a common and ubiquitous activity for computers. It is not surprising that there exist a plethora of sorting algorithms. For all the sorting algorithms, it is an accepted performance limit that sorting algorithms are linearithmic or O(N lg N). The linearithmic lower bound in performance stems from the fact that the sorting algorithms use the ordering property of the data. The sorting algorithm uses comparison by the ordering property to arrange the data elements from an initial perm...

LazySorted: A Lazily, Partially Sorted Python List

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Naftali Harris

2015-06-01

Full Text Available LazySorted is a Python C extension implementing a partially and lazily sorted list data structure. It solves a common problem faced by programmers, in which they need just part of a sorted list, like its middle element (the median, but sort the entire list to get it. LazySorted presents them with the abstraction that they are working with a fully sorted list, while actually only sorting the list partially with quicksort partitions to return the requested sub-elements. This enables programmers to use naive "sort first" algorithms but nonetheless attain linear run-times when possible. LazySorted may serve as a drop-in replacement for the built-in sorted function in most cases, and can sometimes achieve run-times more than 7 times faster.

Feature extraction using extrema sampling of discrete derivatives for spike sorting in implantable upper-limb neural prostheses.

Science.gov (United States)

Zamani, Majid; Demosthenous, Andreas

2014-07-01

Next generation neural interfaces for upper-limb (and other) prostheses aim to develop implantable interfaces for one or more nerves, each interface having many neural signal channels that work reliably in the stump without harming the nerves. To achieve real-time multi-channel processing it is important to integrate spike sorting on-chip to overcome limitations in transmission bandwidth. This requires computationally efficient algorithms for feature extraction and clustering suitable for low-power hardware implementation. This paper describes a new feature extraction method for real-time spike sorting based on extrema analysis (namely positive peaks and negative peaks) of spike shapes and their discrete derivatives at different frequency bands. Employing simulation across different datasets, the accuracy and computational complexity of the proposed method are assessed and compared with other methods. The average classification accuracy of the proposed method in conjunction with online sorting (O-Sort) is 91.6%, outperforming all the other methods tested with the O-Sort clustering algorithm. The proposed method offers a better tradeoff between classification error and computational complexity, making it a particularly strong choice for on-chip spike sorting.

IMPLEMENTATION OF SERIAL AND PARALLEL BUBBLE SORT ON FPGA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dwi Marhaendro Jati Purnomo

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Sorting is common process in computational world. Its utilization are on many fields from research to industry. There are many sorting algorithm in nowadays. One of the simplest yet powerful is bubble sort. In this study, bubble sort is implemented on FPGA. The implementation was taken on serial and parallel approach. Serial and parallel bubble sort then compared by means of its memory, execution time, and utility which comprises slices and LUTs. The experiments show that serial bubble sort required smaller memory as well as utility compared to parallel bubble sort. Meanwhile, parallel bubble sort performed faster than serial bubble sort

Hrs and SNX3 functions in sorting and membrane invagination within multivesicular bodies.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Véronique Pons

2008-09-01

Full Text Available After internalization, ubiquitinated signaling receptors are delivered to early endosomes. There, they are sorted and incorporated into the intralumenal invaginations of nascent multivesicular bodies, which function as transport intermediates to late endosomes. Receptor sorting is achieved by Hrs--an adaptor--like protein that binds membrane PtdIns3P via a FYVE motif-and then by ESCRT complexes, which presumably also mediate the invagination process. Eventually, intralumenal vesicles are delivered to lysosomes, leading to the notion that EGF receptor sorting into multivesicular bodies mediates lysosomal targeting. Here, we report that Hrs is essential for lysosomal targeting but dispensable for multivesicular body biogenesis and transport to late endosomes. By contrast, we find that the PtdIns3P-binding protein SNX3 is required for multivesicular body formation, but not for EGF receptor degradation. PtdIns3P thus controls the complementary functions of Hrs and SNX3 in sorting and multivesicular body biogenesis.

Sorting Out Sorts

OpenAIRE

Jonathan B. Berk

1998-01-01

In this paper we analyze the theoretical implications of sorting data into groups and then running asset pricing tests within each group. We show that the way this procedure is implemented introduces a severe bias in favor of rejecting the model under consideration. By simply picking enough groups to sort into even the true asset pricing model can be shown to have no explanatory power within each group.

Hepatitis C Virus Proteins Interact with the Endosomal Sorting Complex Required for Transport (ESCRT) Machinery via Ubiquitination To Facilitate Viral Envelopment.

Science.gov (United States)

Barouch-Bentov, Rina; Neveu, Gregory; Xiao, Fei; Beer, Melanie; Bekerman, Elena; Schor, Stanford; Campbell, Joseph; Boonyaratanakornkit, Jim; Lindenbach, Brett; Lu, Albert; Jacob, Yves; Einav, Shirit

2016-11-01

Enveloped viruses commonly utilize late-domain motifs, sometimes cooperatively with ubiquitin, to hijack the endosomal sorting complex required for transport (ESCRT) machinery for budding at the plasma membrane. However, the mechanisms underlying budding of viruses lacking defined late-domain motifs and budding into intracellular compartments are poorly characterized. Here, we map a network of hepatitis C virus (HCV) protein interactions with the ESCRT machinery using a mammalian-cell-based protein interaction screen and reveal nine novel interactions. We identify HRS (hepatocyte growth factor-regulated tyrosine kinase substrate), an ESCRT-0 complex component, as an important entry point for HCV into the ESCRT pathway and validate its interactions with the HCV nonstructural (NS) proteins NS2 and NS5A in HCV-infected cells. Infectivity assays indicate that HRS is an important factor for efficient HCV assembly. Specifically, by integrating capsid oligomerization assays, biophysical analysis of intracellular viral particles by continuous gradient centrifugations, proteolytic digestion protection, and RNase digestion protection assays, we show that HCV co-opts HRS to mediate a late assembly step, namely, envelopment. In the absence of defined late-domain motifs, K63-linked polyubiquitinated lysine residues in the HCV NS2 protein bind the HRS ubiquitin-interacting motif to facilitate assembly. Finally, ESCRT-III and VPS/VTA1 components are also recruited by HCV proteins to mediate assembly. These data uncover involvement of ESCRT proteins in intracellular budding of a virus lacking defined late-domain motifs and a novel mechanism by which HCV gains entry into the ESCRT network, with potential implications for other viruses. Viruses commonly bud at the plasma membrane by recruiting the host ESCRT machinery via conserved motifs termed late domains. The mechanism by which some viruses, such as HCV, bud intracellularly is, however, poorly characterized. Moreover, whether

Event-driven processing for hardware-efficient neural spike sorting

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Yan; Pereira, João L.; Constandinou, Timothy G.

2018-02-01

Objective. The prospect of real-time and on-node spike sorting provides a genuine opportunity to push the envelope of large-scale integrated neural recording systems. In such systems the hardware resources, power requirements and data bandwidth increase linearly with channel count. Event-based (or data-driven) processing can provide here a new efficient means for hardware implementation that is completely activity dependant. In this work, we investigate using continuous-time level-crossing sampling for efficient data representation and subsequent spike processing. Approach. (1) We first compare signals (synthetic neural datasets) encoded with this technique against conventional sampling. (2) We then show how such a representation can be directly exploited by extracting simple time domain features from the bitstream to perform neural spike sorting. (3) The proposed method is implemented in a low power FPGA platform to demonstrate its hardware viability. Main results. It is observed that considerably lower data rates are achievable when using 7 bits or less to represent the signals, whilst maintaining the signal fidelity. Results obtained using both MATLAB and reconfigurable logic hardware (FPGA) indicate that feature extraction and spike sorting accuracies can be achieved with comparable or better accuracy than reference methods whilst also requiring relatively low hardware resources. Significance. By effectively exploiting continuous-time data representation, neural signal processing can be achieved in a completely event-driven manner, reducing both the required resources (memory, complexity) and computations (operations). This will see future large-scale neural systems integrating on-node processing in real-time hardware.

Optimal Time-Space Trade-Offs for Non-Comparison-Based Sorting

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pagh, Rasmus; Pagter, Jacob Illeborg

2002-01-01

We study the problem of sorting n integers of w bits on a unit-cost RAM with word size w, and in particular consider the time-space trade-off (product of time and space in bits) for this problem. For comparison-based algorithms, the time-space complexity is known to be Θ(n2). A result of Beame...... shows that the lower bound also holds for non-comparison-based algorithms, but no algorithm has met this for time below the comparison-based Ω(nlgn) lower bound.We show that if sorting within some time bound &Ttilde; is possible, then time T = O(&Ttilde; + nlg* n) can be achieved with high probability...... using space S = O(n2/T + w), which is optimal. Given a deterministic priority queue using amortized time t(n) per operation and space nO(1), we provide a deterministic algorithm sorting in time T = O(n(t(n) + lg* n)) with S = O(n2/T + w). Both results require that w ≤ n1-Ω(1). Using existing priority...

The Highly Conserved COPII Coat Complex Sorts Cargo from the Endoplasmic Reticulum and Targets It to the Golgi

OpenAIRE

Lord, Christopher; Ferro-Novick, Susan; Miller, Elizabeth A.

2013-01-01

Protein egress from the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) is driven by a conserved cytoplasmic coat complex called the COPII coat. The COPII coat complex contains an inner shell (Sec23/Sec24) that sorts cargo into ER-derived vesicles and an outer cage (Sec13/Sec31) that leads to coat polymerization. Once released from the ER, vesicles must tether to and fuse with the target membrane to deliver their protein and lipid contents. This delivery step also depends on the COPII coat, with coat proteins bin...

The PreferenSort: A Holistic Instrument for Career Counseling

Science.gov (United States)

Amit, Adi; Sagiv, Lilach

2013-01-01

We present the PreferenSort, a career counseling instrument that derives counselees' vocational interests from their preferences among occupational titles. The PreferenSort allows for a holistic decision process, while taking into account the full complexity of occupations and encouraging deliberation about one's preferences and acceptable…

The Container Problem in Bubble-Sort Graphs

Science.gov (United States)

Suzuki, Yasuto; Kaneko, Keiichi

Bubble-sort graphs are variants of Cayley graphs. A bubble-sort graph is suitable as a topology for massively parallel systems because of its simple and regular structure. Therefore, in this study, we focus on n-bubble-sort graphs and propose an algorithm to obtain n-1 disjoint paths between two arbitrary nodes in time bounded by a polynomial in n, the degree of the graph plus one. We estimate the time complexity of the algorithm and the sum of the path lengths after proving the correctness of the algorithm. In addition, we report the results of computer experiments evaluating the average performance of the algorithm.

Algorithm 426 : Merge sort algorithm [M1

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bron, C.

1972-01-01

Sorting by means of a two-way merge has a reputation of requiring a clerically complicated and cumbersome program. This ALGOL 60 procedure demonstrates that, using recursion, an elegant and efficient algorithm can be designed, the correctness of which is easily proved [2]. Sorting n objects gives

Data parallel sorting for particle simulation

Science.gov (United States)

Dagum, Leonardo

1992-01-01

Sorting on a parallel architecture is a communications intensive event which can incur a high penalty in applications where it is required. In the case of particle simulation, only integer sorting is necessary, and sequential implementations easily attain the minimum performance bound of O (N) for N particles. Parallel implementations, however, have to cope with the parallel sorting problem which, in addition to incurring a heavy communications cost, can make the minimun performance bound difficult to attain. This paper demonstrates how the sorting problem in a particle simulation can be reduced to a merging problem, and describes an efficient data parallel algorithm to solve this merging problem in a particle simulation. The new algorithm is shown to be optimal under conditions usual for particle simulation, and its fieldwise implementation on the Connection Machine is analyzed in detail. The new algorithm is about four times faster than a fieldwise implementation of radix sort on the Connection Machine.

Development of a reactor thermalhydraulic experiment databank(SORTED1)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bang, Young Seck; Kim, Eun Kyoung; Kim, Hho Jung; Lee, Sang Yong

1994-01-01

The recent trend in thermalhydraulic safety analysis of nuclear power plant shows the best-estimate and probabilistic approaches, therefore, the verification of the best-estimate code based on the applicable experiment data has been required. The present study focused on developing a simple databank, SORTED1, to be effectively used for code verification. The development of SORTED1 includes a data collection from the various sources including ENCOUNTER, which is the reactor safety data bank of U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, a reorganization of collected resources suitable for requirements of SORTED1 database management system (DBMS), and a development of a simple DBMS. The SORTED1 is designed in Unix environment with graphic user interface to improve a user convenience and has a capability to provide the test related information. The currently registered data in SORTED1 cover 759 thermalhydraulic tests including LOFT, Semiscale, etc

Automatic spike sorting using tuning information.

Science.gov (United States)

Ventura, Valérie

2009-09-01

Current spike sorting methods focus on clustering neurons' characteristic spike waveforms. The resulting spike-sorted data are typically used to estimate how covariates of interest modulate the firing rates of neurons. However, when these covariates do modulate the firing rates, they provide information about spikes' identities, which thus far have been ignored for the purpose of spike sorting. This letter describes a novel approach to spike sorting, which incorporates both waveform information and tuning information obtained from the modulation of firing rates. Because it efficiently uses all the available information, this spike sorter yields lower spike misclassification rates than traditional automatic spike sorters. This theoretical result is verified empirically on several examples. The proposed method does not require additional assumptions; only its implementation is different. It essentially consists of performing spike sorting and tuning estimation simultaneously rather than sequentially, as is currently done. We used an expectation-maximization maximum likelihood algorithm to implement the new spike sorter. We present the general form of this algorithm and provide a detailed implementable version under the assumptions that neurons are independent and spike according to Poisson processes. Finally, we uncover a systematic flaw of spike sorting based on waveform information only.

Perbandingan Bubble Sort dengan Insertion Sort pada Bahasa Pemrograman C dan Fortran

OpenAIRE

Reina, Reina; Gautama, Josef Bernadi

2013-01-01

Sorting is a basic algorithm studied by students of computer science major. Sorting algorithm is the basis of other algorithms such as searching algorithm, pattern matching algorithm. Bubble sort is a popular basic sorting algorithm due to its easiness to be implemented. Besides bubble sort, there is insertion sort. It is lesspopular than bubble sort because it has more difficult algorithm. This paper discusses about process time between insertion sort and bubble sort with two kinds of data. ...

MODELING WORK OF SORTING STATION USING UML

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

O. V. Gorbova

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Purpose. The purpose of this paper is the construction of methods and models for the graphical representation process of sorting station, using the unified modeling language (UML. Methodology. Methods of graph theory, finite automata and the representation theory of queuing systems were used as the methods of investigation. A graphical representation of the process was implemented with using the Unified Modeling Language UML. The sorting station process representation is implemented as a state diagram and actions through a set of IBM Rational Rose. Graphs can show parallel operation of sorting station, the parallel existence and influence of objects process and the transition from one state to another. The IBM Rational Rose complex allows developing a diagram of work sequence of varying degrees of detailing. Findings. The study has developed a graphical representation method of the process of sorting station of different kind of complexity. All graphical representations are made using the UML. They are represented as a directed graph with the states. It is clear enough in the study of the subject area. Applying the methodology of the representation process, it allows becoming friendly with the work of any automation object very fast, and exploring the process during algorithms construction of sorting stations and other railway facilities. This model is implemented with using the Unified Modeling Language (UML using a combination of IBM Rational Rose. Originality. The representation process of sorting station was developed by means of the Unified Modeling Language (UML use. Methodology of representation process allows creating the directed graphs based on the order of execution of the works chain, objects and performers of these works. The UML allows visualizing, specifying, constructing and documenting, formalizing the representation process of sorting station and developing sequence diagrams of works of varying degrees of detail. Practical

On the Directly and Subdirectly Irreducible Many-Sorted Algebras

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Climent Vidal J.

2015-03-01

Full Text Available A theorem of single-sorted universal algebra asserts that every finite algebra can be represented as a product of a finite family of finite directly irreducible algebras. In this article, we show that the many-sorted counterpart of the above theorem is also true, but under the condition of requiring, in the definition of directly reducible many-sorted algebra, that the supports of the factors should be included in the support of the many-sorted algebra. Moreover, we show that the theorem of Birkhoff, according to which every single-sorted algebra is isomorphic to a subdirect product of subdirectly irreducible algebras, is also true in the field of many-sorted algebras.

Perbandingan Bubble Sort dengan Insertion Sort pada Bahasa Pemrograman C dan Fortran

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Reina Reina

2013-12-01

Full Text Available Sorting is a basic algorithm studied by students of computer science major. Sorting algorithm is the basis of other algorithms such as searching algorithm, pattern matching algorithm. Bubble sort is a popular basic sorting algorithm due to its easiness to be implemented. Besides bubble sort, there is insertion sort. It is lesspopular than bubble sort because it has more difficult algorithm. This paper discusses about process time between insertion sort and bubble sort with two kinds of data. First is randomized data, and the second is data of descending list. Comparison of process time has been done in two kinds of programming language that is C programming language and FORTRAN programming language. The result shows that bubble sort needs more time than insertion sort does.

Co-assembly of viral envelope glycoproteins regulates their polarized sorting in neurons.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rafael Mattera

2014-05-01

Full Text Available Newly synthesized envelope glycoproteins of neuroinvasive viruses can be sorted in a polarized manner to the somatodendritic and/or axonal domains of neurons. Although critical for transneuronal spread of viruses, the molecular determinants and interregulation of this process are largely unknown. We studied the polarized sorting of the attachment (NiV-G and fusion (NiV-F glycoproteins of Nipah virus (NiV, a paramyxovirus that causes fatal human encephalitis, in rat hippocampal neurons. When expressed individually, NiV-G exhibited a non-polarized distribution, whereas NiV-F was specifically sorted to the somatodendritic domain. Polarized sorting of NiV-F was dependent on interaction of tyrosine-based signals in its cytosolic tail with the clathrin adaptor complex AP-1. Co-expression of NiV-G with NiV-F abolished somatodendritic sorting of NiV-F due to incorporation of NiV-G•NiV-F complexes into axonal transport carriers. We propose that faster biosynthetic transport of unassembled NiV-F allows for its proteolytic activation in the somatodendritic domain prior to association with NiV-G and axonal delivery of NiV-G•NiV-F complexes. Our study reveals how interactions of viral glycoproteins with the host's transport machinery and between themselves regulate their polarized sorting in neurons.

Design and realization of sort manipulator of crystal-angle sort machine

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Ming-shun; Chen, Shu-ping; Guan, Shou-ping; Zhang, Yao-wei

2005-12-01

It is a current tendency of development in automation technology to replace manpower with manipulators in working places where dangerous, harmful, heavy or repetitive work is involved. The sort manipulator is installed in a crystal-angle sort machine to take the place of manpower, and engaged in unloading and sorting work. It is the outcome of combing together mechanism, electric transmission, and pneumatic element and micro-controller control. The step motor makes the sort manipulator operate precisely. The pneumatic elements make the sort manipulator be cleverer. Micro-controller's software bestows some simple artificial intelligence on the sort manipulator, so that it can precisely repeat its unloading and sorting work. The combination of manipulator's zero position and step motor counting control puts an end to accumulating error in long time operation. A sort manipulator's design in the practice engineering has been proved to be correct and reliable.

Parallel sorting algorithms

CERN Document Server

Akl, Selim G

1985-01-01

Parallel Sorting Algorithms explains how to use parallel algorithms to sort a sequence of items on a variety of parallel computers. The book reviews the sorting problem, the parallel models of computation, parallel algorithms, and the lower bounds on the parallel sorting problems. The text also presents twenty different algorithms, such as linear arrays, mesh-connected computers, cube-connected computers. Another example where algorithm can be applied is on the shared-memory SIMD (single instruction stream multiple data stream) computers in which the whole sequence to be sorted can fit in the

The Role of the Clathrin Adaptor AP-1: Polarized Sorting and Beyond

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fubito Nakatsu

2014-11-01

Full Text Available The selective transport of proteins or lipids by vesicular transport is a fundamental process supporting cellular physiology. The budding process involves cargo sorting and vesicle formation at the donor membrane and constitutes an important process in vesicular transport. This process is particularly important for the polarized sorting in epithelial cells, in which the cargo molecules need to be selectively sorted and transported to two distinct destinations, the apical or basolateral plasma membrane. Adaptor protein (AP-1, a member of the AP complex family, which includes the ubiquitously expressed AP-1A and the epithelium-specific AP-1B, regulates polarized sorting at the trans-Golgi network and/or at the recycling endosomes. A growing body of evidence, especially from studies using model organisms and animals, demonstrates that the AP-1-mediated polarized sorting supports the development and physiology of multi-cellular units as functional organs and tissues (e.g., cell fate determination, inflammation and gut immune homeostasis. Furthermore, a possible involvement of AP-1B in the pathogenesis of human diseases, such as Crohn’s disease and cancer, is now becoming evident. These data highlight the significant contribution of AP-1 complexes to the physiology of multicellular organisms, as master regulators of polarized sorting in epithelial cells.

Software information sorting code 'PLUTO-R'

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tsunematsu, Toshihide; Naraoka, Kenitsu; Adachi, Masao; Takeda, Tatsuoki

1984-10-01

A software information sorting code PLUTO-R is developed as one of the supporting codes of the TRITON system for the fusion plasma analysis. The objective of the PLUTO-R code is to sort reference materials of the codes in the TRITON code system. The easiness in the registration of information is especially pursued. As experience and skill in the data registration are not required, this code is usable for construction of general small-scale information system. This report gives an overall description and the user's manual of the PLUTO-R code. (author)

Effects of Added Enzymes on Sorted, Unsorted and Sorted-Out Barley: A Model Study on Realtime Viscosity and Process Potentials Using Rapid Visco Analyser

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Shetty, Radhakrishna; Zhuang, Shiwen; Olsen, Rasmus Lyngsø

2017-01-01

Barley sorting is an important step for selecting grain of required quality for malting prior to brewing. However, brewing with unmalted barley with added enzymes has been thoroughly proven, raising the question of whether traditional sorting for high quality malting-barley is still necessary. To...

Molecular determinants of the interaction between Doa1 and Hse1 involved in endosomal sorting.

Science.gov (United States)

Han, Seungsu; Shin, Donghyuk; Choi, Hoon; Lee, Sangho

2014-03-28

Yeast Doa1/Ufd3 is an adaptor protein for Cdc48 (p97 in mammal), an AAA type ATPase associated with endoplasmic reticulum-associated protein degradation pathway and endosomal sorting into multivesicular bodies. Doa1 functions in the endosomal sorting by its association with Hse1, a component of endosomal sorting complex required for transport (ESCRT) system. The association of Doa1 with Hse1 was previously reported to be mediated between PFU domain of Doa1 and SH3 of Hse1. However, it remains unclear which residues are specifically involved in the interaction. Here we report that Doa1/PFU interacts with Hse1/SH3 with a moderate affinity of 5 μM. Asn-438 of Doa1/PFU and Trp-254 of Hse1/SH3 are found to be critical in the interaction while Phe-434, implicated in ubiquitin binding via a hydrophobic interaction, is not. Small-angle X-ray scattering measurements combined with molecular docking and biochemical analysis yield the solution structure of the Doa1/PFU:Hse1/SH3 complex. Taken together, our results suggest that hydrogen bonding is a major determinant in the interaction of Doa1/PFU with Hse1/SH3. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Dynamin-like protein 1 at the Golgi complex: A novel component of the sorting/targeting machinery en route to the plasma membrane

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bonekamp, Nina A.; Vormund, Kerstin; Jacob, Ralf; Schrader, Michael

2010-01-01

The final step in the liberation of secretory vesicles from the trans-Golgi network (TGN) involves the mechanical action of the large GTPase dynamin as well as conserved dynamin-independent fission mechanisms, e.g. mediated by Brefeldin A-dependent ADP-ribosylated substrate (BARS). Another member of the dynamin family is the mammalian dynamin-like protein 1 (DLP1/Drp1) that is known to constrict and tubulate membranes, and to divide mitochondria and peroxisomes. Here, we examined a potential role for DLP1 at the Golgi complex. DLP1 localized to the Golgi complex in some but not all cell lines tested, thus explaining controversial reports on its cellular distribution. After silencing of DLP1, an accumulation of the apical reporter protein YFP-GL-GPI, but not the basolateral reporter VSVG-SP-GFP at the Golgi complex was observed. A reduction in the transport of YFP-GL-GPI to the plasma membrane was confirmed by surface immunoprecipitation and TGN-exit assays. In contrast, YFP-GL-GPI trafficking was not disturbed in cells silenced for BARS, which is involved in basolateral sorting and trafficking of VSVG-SP-GFP in COS-7 cells. Our data indicate a new role for DLP1 at the Golgi complex and thus a role for DLP1 as a novel component of the apical sorting machinery at the TGN is discussed.

Model design and simulation of automatic sorting machine using proximity sensor

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bankole I. Oladapo

2016-09-01

Full Text Available The automatic sorting system has been reported to be complex and a global problem. This is because of the inability of sorting machines to incorporate flexibility in their design concept. This research therefore designed and developed an automated sorting object of a conveyor belt. The developed automated sorting machine is able to incorporate flexibility and separate species of non-ferrous metal objects and at the same time move objects automatically to the basket as defined by the regulation of the Programmable Logic Controllers (PLC with a capacitive proximity sensor to detect a value range of objects. The result obtained shows that plastic, wood, and steel were sorted into their respective and correct position with an average, sorting, time of 9.903 s, 14.072 s and 18.648 s respectively. The proposed developed model of this research could be adopted at any institution or industries, whose practices are based on mechatronics engineering systems. This is to guide the industrial sector in sorting of object and teaching aid to institutions and hence produce the list of classified materials according to the enabled sorting program commands.

Sex-sorting sperm using flow cytometry/cell sorting.

Science.gov (United States)

Garner, Duane L; Evans, K Michael; Seidel, George E

2013-01-01

The sex of mammalian offspring can be predetermined by flow sorting relatively pure living populations of X- and Y-chromosome-bearing sperm. This method is based on precise staining of the DNA of sperm with the nucleic acid-specific fluorophore, Hoechst 33342, to differentiate between the subpopulations of X- and Y-sperm. The fluorescently stained sperm are then sex-sorted using a specialized high speed sorter, MoFlo(®) SX XDP, and collected into biologically supportive media prior to reconcentration and cryopreservation in numbers adequate for use with artificial insemination for some species or for in vitro fertilization. Sperm sorting can provide subpopulations of X- or Y-bearing bovine sperm at rates in the 8,000 sperm/s range while maintaining; a purity of 90% such that it has been applied to cattle on a commercial basis. The sex of offspring has been predetermined in a wide variety of mammalian species including cattle, swine, horses, sheep, goats, dogs, cats, deer, elk, dolphins, water buffalo as well as in humans using flow cytometric sorting of X- and Y-sperm.

Efficient sorting using registers and caches

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Wickremesinghe, Rajiv; Arge, Lars Allan; Chase, Jeffrey S.

2002-01-01

. Inadequate models lead to poor algorithmic choices and an incomplete understanding of algorithm behavior on real machines.A key step toward developing better models is to quantify the performance effects of features not reflected in the models. This paper explores the effect of memory system features...... on sorting performance. We introduce a new cache-conscious sorting algorithm, R-MERGE, which achieves better performance in practice over algorithms that are superior in the theoretical models. R-MERGE is designed to minimize memory stall cycles rather than cache misses by considering features common to many......Modern computer systems have increasingly complex memory systems. Common machine models for algorithm analysis do not reflect many of the features of these systems, e.g., large register sets, lockup-free caches, cache hierarchies, associativity, cache line fetching, and streaming behavior...

Ready, steady, SORT!

CERN Document Server

Laëtitia Pedroso

2010-01-01

The selective or ecological sorting of waste is already second nature to many of us and concerns us all. As the GS Department's new awareness-raising campaign reminds us, everything we do to sort waste contributes to preserving the environment.    Placemats printed on recycled paper using vegetable-based ink will soon be distributed in Restaurant No.1.   Environmental protection is never far from the headlines, and CERN has a responsibility to ensure that the 3000 tonnes and more of waste it produces every year are correctly and selectively sorted. Materials can be given a second life through recycling and re-use, thereby avoiding pollution from landfill sites and incineration plants and saving on processing costs. The GS Department is launching a new poster campaign designed to raise awareness of the importance of waste sorting and recycling. "After conducting a survey to find out whether members of the personnel were prepared to make an effort to sort a...

Installation of Radiometric Sorting throughout the Cogema-Simo Mining Complex at Lodeve. [Uranium ores

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Grenier, J.; Winter, J.M.; Deville, P.

1986-06-01

The ores of Lodeve present no physical characteristics which permit an elimination of the lowest grade fractions, with the exception of the radioactivity and the radium which accompanies the uranium. The mine therefore turned to radiometric pebble-by-pebble sorting on a machine model M 17 of Ore Sorters who have a monopoly of this type of equipment; this permits an operation over a size range from 25 to 160 mm. Sampling of the deposit investigation of pebble samples, construction of the sorting plant and commissioning are described.

A sorting network in bounded arithmetic

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Jeřábek, Emil

2011-01-01

Roč. 162, č. 4 (2011), s. 341-355 ISSN 0168-0072 R&D Projects: GA AV ČR IAA1019401; GA MŠk(CZ) 1M0545 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z10190503 Keywords : bounded arithmetic * sorting network * proof complexity * monotone sequent calculus Subject RIV: BA - General Mathematics Impact factor: 0.450, year: 2011 http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0168007210001272

Wage Sorting Trends

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bagger, Jesper; Vejlin, Rune Majlund; Sørensen, Kenneth Lykke

Using a population-wide Danish Matched Employer-Employee panel from 1980-2006, we document a strong trend towards more positive assortative wage sorting. The correlation between worker and firm fixed effects estimated from a log wage regression increases from -0.07 in 1981 to .14 in 2001. The non......Using a population-wide Danish Matched Employer-Employee panel from 1980-2006, we document a strong trend towards more positive assortative wage sorting. The correlation between worker and firm fixed effects estimated from a log wage regression increases from -0.07 in 1981 to .14 in 2001....... The nonstationary wage sorting pattern is not due to compositional changes in the labor market, primarily occurs among high wage workers, and comprises 41 percent of the increase in the standard deviation of log real wages between 1980 and 2006. We show that the wage sorting trend is associated with worker...

Flow sorting in aquatic ecology

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marcus Reckermann

2000-06-01

Full Text Available Flow sorting can be a very helpful tool in revealing phytoplankton and bacterial community structure and elaborating specific physiological parameters of isolated species. Droplet sorting has been the most common technique. Despite the high optical and hydro-dynamic stress for the cells to be sorted, many species grow in culture subsequent to sorting. To date, flow sorting has been applied to post-incubation separation in natural water samples to account for group-specific physiological parameters (radiotracer-uptake rates, to the production of clonal or non-clonal cultures from mixtures, to the isolaton of cell groups from natural assemblages for molecular analyses, and for taxonomic identification of sorted cells by microscopy. The application of cell sorting from natural water samples from the Wadden Sea, including different cryptophytes, cyanobacteria and diatoms, is shown, as well as the establishment of laboratory cultures from field samples. The optional use of a red laser to account for phycocyanine-rich cells is also discussed.

A Sort-Last Rendering System over an Optical Backplane

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yasuhiro Kirihata

2005-06-01

Full Text Available Sort-Last is a computer graphics technique for rendering extremely large data sets on clusters of computers. Sort-Last works by dividing the data set into even-sized chunks for parallel rendering and then composing the images to form the final result. Since sort-last rendering requires the movement of large amounts of image data among cluster nodes, the network interconnecting the nodes becomes a major bottleneck. In this paper, we describe a sort-last rendering system implemented on a cluster of computers whose nodes are connected by an all-optical switch. The rendering system introduces the notion of the Photonic Computing Engine, a computing system built dynamically by using the optical switch to create dedicated network connections among cluster nodes. The sort-last volume rendering algorithm was implemented on the Photonic Computing Engine, and its performance is evaluated. Prelimi- nary experiments show that performance is affected by the image composition time and average payload size. In an attempt to stabilize the performance of the system, we have designed a flow control mechanism that uses feedback messages to dynamically adjust the data flow rate within the computing engine.

Ore sorting

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hawkins, A.P.; Richards, A.W.

1982-01-01

In an ore sorting apparatus, ore particles are bombarded with neutrons in a chamber and sorted by detecting radiation emitted by isotopes of elements, such as gold, forming or contained in the particles, using detectors and selectively controlling fluid jets. The isotopes can be selectively recognised by their radiation characteristics. In an alternative embodiment, shorter life isotopes are formed by neutron bombardment and detection of radiation takes place immediately adjacent the region of bombardment

External parallel sorting with multiprocessor computers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Comanceau, S.I.

1984-01-01

This article describes methods of external sorting in which the entire main computer memory is used for the internal sorting of entries, forming out of them sorted segments of the greatest possible size, and outputting them to external memories. The obtained segments are merged into larger segments until all entries form one ordered segment. The described methods are suitable for sequential files stored on magnetic tape. The needs of the sorting algorithm can be met by using the relatively slow peripheral storage devices (e.g., tapes, disks, drums). The efficiency of the external sorting methods is determined by calculating the total sorting time as a function of the number of entries to be sorted and the number of parallel processors participating in the sorting process

UNIFICATION OF PROCESSES OF SORTING OUT OF DESTROYED CONSTRUCTION OBJECTS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

SHATOV S. V.

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Summary. Problem statement. Technogenic catastrophes, failures or natural calamities, result in destruction of build objects. Under the obstructions of destructions can be victims. The most widespread technogenic failure is explosions of gas. The structure of obstructions changes and depends on parameters and direction of explosion, firstly its size and location of wreckages. Sorting out of obstructions is carried out with machines and mechanisms which do not meet the requirements of these works, that predetermines of carrying out of rescue or restoration works on imperfect scheme , especially on the initial stages, and it increases terms and labour intensiveness of their conduct. Development technological solution is needed for the effective sorting out of destructions of construction objects. Purpose. Development of unification solution on the improvement of technological processes of sorting out of destructions of buildings and constructions. Conclusion. The analysis of experience of works shows on sorting out of the destroyed construction objects, show that they are carried out on imperfect scheme, which do not take into account character of destruction of objects and are based on the use of construction machines which do not meet the requirements of these processes, and lead to considerable resource losses. Developed unified scheme of sorting out of the destroyed construction objects depending on character of their destruction and possibility of line of works, and also with the use of build machines with a multipurpose equipment, provide the increase of efficiency of carrying out of rescue and construction works.

FISHIS: fluorescence in situ hybridization in suspension and chromosome flow sorting made easy.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Debora Giorgi

Full Text Available The large size and complex polyploid nature of many genomes has often hampered genomics development, as is the case for several plants of high agronomic value. Isolating single chromosomes or chromosome arms via flow sorting offers a clue to resolve such complexity by focusing sequencing to a discrete and self-consistent part of the whole genome. The occurrence of sufficient differences in the size and or base-pair composition of the individual chromosomes, which is uncommon in plants, is critical for the success of flow sorting. We overcome this limitation by developing a robust method for labeling isolated chromosomes, named Fluorescent In situ Hybridization In suspension (FISHIS. FISHIS employs fluorescently labeled synthetic repetitive DNA probes, which are hybridized, in a wash-less procedure, to chromosomes in suspension following DNA alkaline denaturation. All typical A, B and D genomes of wheat, as well as individual chromosomes from pasta (T. durum L. and bread (T. aestivum L. wheat, were flow-sorted, after FISHIS, at high purity. For the first time in eukaryotes, each individual chromosome of a diploid organism, Dasypyrum villosum (L. Candargy, was flow-sorted regardless of its size or base-pair related content. FISHIS-based chromosome sorting is a powerful and innovative flow cytogenetic tool which can develop new genomic resources from each plant species, where microsatellite DNA probes are available and high quality chromosome suspensions could be produced. The joining of FISHIS labeling and flow sorting with the Next Generation Sequencing methodology will enforce genomics for more species, and by this mightier chromosome approach it will be possible to increase our knowledge about structure, evolution and function of plant genome to be used for crop improvement. It is also anticipated that this technique could contribute to analyze and sort animal chromosomes with peculiar cytogenetic abnormalities, such as copy number variations

FISHIS: fluorescence in situ hybridization in suspension and chromosome flow sorting made easy.

Science.gov (United States)

Giorgi, Debora; Farina, Anna; Grosso, Valentina; Gennaro, Andrea; Ceoloni, Carla; Lucretti, Sergio

2013-01-01

The large size and complex polyploid nature of many genomes has often hampered genomics development, as is the case for several plants of high agronomic value. Isolating single chromosomes or chromosome arms via flow sorting offers a clue to resolve such complexity by focusing sequencing to a discrete and self-consistent part of the whole genome. The occurrence of sufficient differences in the size and or base-pair composition of the individual chromosomes, which is uncommon in plants, is critical for the success of flow sorting. We overcome this limitation by developing a robust method for labeling isolated chromosomes, named Fluorescent In situ Hybridization In suspension (FISHIS). FISHIS employs fluorescently labeled synthetic repetitive DNA probes, which are hybridized, in a wash-less procedure, to chromosomes in suspension following DNA alkaline denaturation. All typical A, B and D genomes of wheat, as well as individual chromosomes from pasta (T. durum L.) and bread (T. aestivum L.) wheat, were flow-sorted, after FISHIS, at high purity. For the first time in eukaryotes, each individual chromosome of a diploid organism, Dasypyrum villosum (L.) Candargy, was flow-sorted regardless of its size or base-pair related content. FISHIS-based chromosome sorting is a powerful and innovative flow cytogenetic tool which can develop new genomic resources from each plant species, where microsatellite DNA probes are available and high quality chromosome suspensions could be produced. The joining of FISHIS labeling and flow sorting with the Next Generation Sequencing methodology will enforce genomics for more species, and by this mightier chromosome approach it will be possible to increase our knowledge about structure, evolution and function of plant genome to be used for crop improvement. It is also anticipated that this technique could contribute to analyze and sort animal chromosomes with peculiar cytogenetic abnormalities, such as copy number variations or cytogenetic

Past, present and future of spike sorting techniques.

Science.gov (United States)

Rey, Hernan Gonzalo; Pedreira, Carlos; Quian Quiroga, Rodrigo

2015-10-01

Spike sorting is a crucial step to extract information from extracellular recordings. With new recording opportunities provided by the development of new electrodes that allow monitoring hundreds of neurons simultaneously, the scenario for the new generation of algorithms is both exciting and challenging. However, this will require a new approach to the problem and the development of a common reference framework to quickly assess the performance of new algorithms. In this work, we review the basic concepts of spike sorting, including the requirements for different applications, together with the problems faced by presently available algorithms. We conclude by proposing a roadmap stressing the crucial points to be addressed to support the neuroscientific research of the near future. Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Anodal Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation of the Prefrontal Cortex Enhances Complex Verbal Associative Thought

Science.gov (United States)

Cerruti, Carlo; Schlaug, Gottfried

2009-01-01

The remote associates test (RAT) is a complex verbal task with associations to both creative thought and general intelligence. RAT problems require not only lateral associations and the internal production of many words but a convergent focus on a single answer. Complex problem-solving of this sort may thus require both substantial verbal…

TECHNICAL EQUIPMENT FOR SORTING APPLES BY SIZE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vasilica Ştefan

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Need to increase the competitiveness of semi-subsistence farms, by valorisation of the fruits, led to research for designing of an equipment for sorting apples by size, in order to meet market requirement, pricing according to the size of the fruits.

Design of mechanical arm for an automatic sorting system of recyclable cans

Science.gov (United States)

Resti, Y.; Mohruni, A. S.; Burlian, F.; Yani, I.; Amran, A.

2018-04-01

The use of a mechanical arm for an automatic sorting system of used cans should be designed carefully. The right design will result in a high precision sorting rate and a short sorting time. The design includes first; design manipulator,second; determine link and joint specifications, and third; build mechanical systems and control systems. This study aims to design the mechanical arm as a hardware system for automatic cans sorting system. The material used for the manipulator is the aluminum plate. The manipulator is designed using 6 links and 6 join where the 6th link is the end effectorand the 6th join is the gripper. As a driving motor used servo motor, while as a microcontroller used Arduino Uno which is connected with Matlab programming language. Based on testing, a mechanical arm designed for this recyclable canned recycling system has a precision sorting rate at 93%, where the average total time required for sorting is 10.82 seconds.

NIH Toolbox Cognition Battery (NIHTB-CB): list sorting test to measure working memory.

Science.gov (United States)

Tulsky, David S; Carlozzi, Noelle; Chiaravalloti, Nancy D; Beaumont, Jennifer L; Kisala, Pamela A; Mungas, Dan; Conway, Kevin; Gershon, Richard

2014-07-01

The List Sorting Working Memory Test was designed to assess working memory (WM) as part of the NIH Toolbox Cognition Battery. List Sorting is a sequencing task requiring children and adults to sort and sequence stimuli that are presented visually and auditorily. Validation data are presented for 268 participants ages 20 to 85 years. A subset of participants (N=89) was retested 7 to 21 days later. As expected, the List Sorting Test had moderately high correlations with other measures of working memory and executive functioning (convergent validity) but a low correlation with a test of receptive vocabulary (discriminant validity). Furthermore, List Sorting demonstrates expected changes over the age span and has excellent test-retest reliability. Collectively, these results provide initial support for the construct validity of the List Sorting Working Memory Measure as a measure of working memory. However, the relationship between the List Sorting Test and general executive function has yet to be determined.

Lower Bounds for Sorted Geometric Queries in the I/O Model

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Afshani, Peyman; Zeh, Norbert

2012-01-01

. This is highly relevant in an I/O context because storing a massive data set in a superlinear-space data structure is often infeasible. We also prove that answering queries using I/Os requires space, where N is the input size, B is the block size, and M is the size of the main memory. This bound is unlikely...... to be optimal and in fact we can show that, for a particular class of “persistence-based” data structures, the space lower bound can be improved to Ω(N2 / MO(1)). Both these lower bounds are a first step towards understanding the complexity of sorted geometric query problems. All our lower bounds assume...

Simple sorting algorithm test based on CUDA

OpenAIRE

Meng, Hongyu; Guo, Fangjin

2015-01-01

With the development of computing technology, CUDA has become a very important tool. In computer programming, sorting algorithm is widely used. There are many simple sorting algorithms such as enumeration sort, bubble sort and merge sort. In this paper, we test some simple sorting algorithm based on CUDA and draw some useful conclusions.

Metric-based method of software requirements correctness improvement

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yaremchuk Svitlana

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The work highlights the most important principles of software reliability management (SRM. The SRM concept construes a basis for developing a method of requirements correctness improvement. The method assumes that complicated requirements contain more actual and potential design faults/defects. The method applies a newer metric to evaluate the requirements complexity and double sorting technique evaluating the priority and complexity of a particular requirement. The method enables to improve requirements correctness due to identification of a higher number of defects with restricted resources. Practical application of the proposed method in the course of demands review assured a sensible technical and economic effect.

Layers in sorting practices: Sorting out patients with potential cancer

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Møller, Naja Holten; Bjørn, Pernille

2011-01-01

for a particular patient. Due to the limited resources within the Danish healthcare system, initiating cancer pathways for all patients with a remote suspicion of cancer would crash the system, as it would be impossible for healthcare professionals to commit to the prescribed schedules and times defined...... they show that sorting patients before initiating a standardized cancer pathway is not a simple process of deciding on a predefined category that will stipulate particular dates and times. Instead, these informal sorting mechanisms show that the process of sorting patients prior to diagnosis......In the last couple of years, widespread use of standardized cancer pathways has been seen across a range of countries, including Denmark, to improve prognosis of cancer patients. In Denmark, standardized cancer pathways take the form of guidelines prescribing well-defined sequences where steps...

Mechanism of aldolase control of sorting nexin 9 function in endocytosis.

Science.gov (United States)

Rangarajan, Erumbi S; Park, HaJeung; Fortin, Emanuelle; Sygusch, Jurgen; Izard, Tina

2010-04-16

Sorting nexin 9 (SNX9) functions in a complex with the GTPase dynamin-2 at clathrin-coated pits, where it provokes fission of vesicles to complete endocytosis. Here the SNX9.dynamin-2 complex binds to clathrin and adapter protein complex 2 (AP-2) that line these pits, and this occurs through interactions of the low complexity domain (LC4) of SNX9 with AP-2. Intriguingly, localization of the SNX9.dynamin-2 complex to clathrin-coated pits is blocked by interactions with the abundant glycolytic enzyme aldolase, which also binds to the LC4 domain of SNX9. The crystal structure of the LC4 motif of human SNX9 in complex with aldolase explains the biochemistry and biology of this interaction, where SNX9 binds near the active site of aldolase via residues 165-171 that are also required for the interactions of SNX9 with AP-2. Accordingly, SNX9 binding to aldolase is structurally precluded by the binding of substrate to the active site. Interactions of SNX9 with aldolase are far more extensive and differ from those of the actin-nucleating factor WASP with aldolase, indicating considerable plasticity in mechanisms that direct the functions of the aldolase as a scaffold protein.

Mechanism of Aldolase Control of Sorting Nexin 9 Function in Endocytosis*

Science.gov (United States)

Rangarajan, Erumbi S.; Park, HaJeung; Fortin, Emanuelle; Sygusch, Jurgen; Izard, Tina

2010-01-01

Sorting nexin 9 (SNX9) functions in a complex with the GTPase dynamin-2 at clathrin-coated pits, where it provokes fission of vesicles to complete endocytosis. Here the SNX9·dynamin-2 complex binds to clathrin and adapter protein complex 2 (AP-2) that line these pits, and this occurs through interactions of the low complexity domain (LC4) of SNX9 with AP-2. Intriguingly, localization of the SNX9·dynamin-2 complex to clathrin-coated pits is blocked by interactions with the abundant glycolytic enzyme aldolase, which also binds to the LC4 domain of SNX9. The crystal structure of the LC4 motif of human SNX9 in complex with aldolase explains the biochemistry and biology of this interaction, where SNX9 binds near the active site of aldolase via residues 165–171 that are also required for the interactions of SNX9 with AP-2. Accordingly, SNX9 binding to aldolase is structurally precluded by the binding of substrate to the active site. Interactions of SNX9 with aldolase are far more extensive and differ from those of the actin-nucleating factor WASP with aldolase, indicating considerable plasticity in mechanisms that direct the functions of the aldolase as a scaffold protein. PMID:20129922

Mechanism of Aldolase Control of Sorting Nexin 9 Function in Endocytosis

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rangarajan, Erumbi S.; Park, HaJeung; Fortin, Emanuelle; Sygusch, Jurgen; Izard, Tina (Scripps); (Montreal)

2010-11-03

Sorting nexin 9 (SNX9) functions in a complex with the GTPase dynamin-2 at clathrin-coated pits, where it provokes fission of vesicles to complete endocytosis. Here the SNX9-dynamin-2 complex binds to clathrin and adapter protein complex 2 (AP-2) that line these pits, and this occurs through interactions of the low complexity domain (LC4) of SNX9 with AP-2. Intriguingly, localization of the SNX9-dynamin-2 complex to clathrin-coated pits is blocked by interactions with the abundant glycolytic enzyme aldolase, which also binds to the LC4 domain of SNX9. The crystal structure of the LC4 motif of human SNX9 in complex with aldolase explains the biochemistry and biology of this interaction, where SNX9 binds near the active site of aldolase via residues 165-171 that are also required for the interactions of SNX9 with AP-2. Accordingly, SNX9 binding to aldolase is structurally precluded by the binding of substrate to the active site. Interactions of SNX9 with aldolase are far more extensive and differ from those of the actin-nucleating factor WASP with aldolase, indicating considerable plasticity in mechanisms that direct the functions of the aldolase as a scaffold protein.

Sorting fluorescent nanocrystals with DNA

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gerion, Daniele; Parak, Wolfgang J.; Williams, Shara C.; Zanchet, Daniela; Micheel, Christine M.; Alivisatos, A. Paul

2001-12-10

Semiconductor nanocrystals with narrow and tunable fluorescence are covalently linked to oligonucleotides. These biocompounds retain the properties of both nanocrystals and DNA. Therefore, different sequences of DNA can be coded with nanocrystals and still preserve their ability to hybridize to their complements. We report the case where four different sequences of DNA are linked to four nanocrystal samples having different colors of emission in the range of 530-640 nm. When the DNA-nanocrystal conjugates are mixed together, it is possible to sort each type of nanoparticle using hybridization on a defined micrometer -size surface containing the complementary oligonucleotide. Detection of sorting requires only a single excitation source and an epifluorescence microscope. The possibility of directing fluorescent nanocrystals towards specific biological targets and detecting them, combined with their superior photo-stability compared to organic dyes, opens the way to improved biolabeling experiments, such as gene mapping on a nanometer scale or multicolor microarray analysis.

An Automated Sorting System Based on Virtual Instrumentation Techniques

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rodica Holonec

2008-07-01

Full Text Available The application presented in this paper represents an experimental model and it refers to the implementing of an automated sorting system for pieces of same shape but different sizes and/or colors. The classification is made according to two features: the color and weight of these pieces. The system is a complex combination of NI Vision hardware and software tools, strain gauges transducers, signal conditioning connected to data acquisition boards, motion and control elements. The system is very useful for students to learn and experiment different virtual instrumentation techniques in order to be able to develop a large field of applications from inspection and process control to sorting and assembly

Heavy mineral sorting in downwards injected Palaeocene sandstone, Siri Canyon, Danish North Sea

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kazerouni, Afsoon Moatari; Friis, Henrik; Svendsen, Johan Byskov

2011-01-01

Post-depositional remobilization and injection of sand are often seen in deep-water clastic systems and has been recently recognised as a significant modifier of deep-water sandstone geometry. Large-scale injectite complexes have been interpreted from borehole data in the Palaeocene Siri Canyon...... of depositional structures in deep-water sandstones, the distinction between "in situ" and injected or remobilised sandstones is often ambiguous. Large scale heavy mineral sorting (in 10 m thick units) is observed in several reservoir units in the Siri Canyon and has been interpreted to represent the depositional...... sorting. In this study we describe an example of effective shear-zone sorting of heavy minerals in a thin downward injected sandstone dyke which was encountered in one of the cores in the Cecilie Field, Siri Canyon. Differences in sorting pattern of heavy minerals are suggested as a tool for petrographic...

Job Sorting in African Labor Markets

OpenAIRE

Marcel Fafchamps; Mans Soderbom; Najy Benhassine

2006-01-01

Using matched employer-employee data from eleven African countries, we investigate if there is a job sorting in African labor markets. We find that much of the wage gap correlated with education is driven by selection across occupations and firms. This is consistent with educated workers being more effective at complex tasks like labor management. In all countries the education wage gap widens rapidly at high low levels of education. Most of the education wage gap at low levels of education c...

LOGISTICAL SUPPORT OF PROCESSES OF SORTING OUT OF THE DESTROYED BUILDING OBJECTS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

SHATOV S. V.

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Summary. Raising of problem. Natural calamities, technogenic catastrophes and failures, result in destruction of building objects. Under the obstructions of destructions there can be victims. The most widespread technogenic failure are explosions of domestic gas. The structure of obstructions changes depending on parameters and direction of explosion, first of all size and location of wreckages. Sorting out of obstructions is executed by machines and mechanisms which do not answer the requirements of these works, that predetermines falling short of logistical support to the requirements of rescue or restoration works, and it increases terms and labour intensiveness of their conduct. Development of technological decisions is therefore needed for the effective sorting out of destructions of building objects. Purpose. Development of methodology of determination of logistical support of processes of sorting out of destructions of building and building. Conclusion. Experience of works shows on sorting out of the destroyed building objects, that they are executed with the use of imperfect logistical support, which are not taken into account by character of destruction of objects and is based on the use of buildings machines which do not answer the requirements of these processes, that results in considerable resource losses. Building machines with a multipurpose equipment, which provide the increase of efficiency of implementation of rescue and restoration works, are worked out. Methodology of determination of number of technique is worked out for providing of material-supply of sorting out of destructions, in particular on the initial stage of rescue works for liberation of victims from under obstructions.

Particle migration and sorting in microbubble streaming flows

Science.gov (United States)

Thameem, Raqeeb; Hilgenfeldt, Sascha

2016-01-01

Ultrasonic driving of semicylindrical microbubbles generates strong streaming flows that are robust over a wide range of driving frequencies. We show that in microchannels, these streaming flow patterns can be combined with Poiseuille flows to achieve two distinctive, highly tunable methods for size-sensitive sorting and trapping of particles much smaller than the bubble itself. This method allows higher throughput than typical passive sorting techniques, since it does not require the inclusion of device features on the order of the particle size. We propose a simple mechanism, based on channel and flow geometry, which reliably describes and predicts the sorting behavior observed in experiment. It is also shown that an asymptotic theory that incorporates the device geometry and superimposed channel flow accurately models key flow features such as peak speeds and particle trajectories, provided it is appropriately modified to account for 3D effects caused by the axial confinement of the bubble. PMID:26958103

Chip-based droplet sorting

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Beer, Neil Reginald; Lee, Abraham; Hatch, Andrew

2017-11-21

A non-contact system for sorting monodisperse water-in-oil emulsion droplets in a microfluidic device based on the droplet's contents and their interaction with an applied electromagnetic field or by identification and sorting.

Mechanism of Aldolase Control of Sorting Nexin 9 Function in Endocytosis*

OpenAIRE

Rangarajan, Erumbi S.; Park, HaJeung; Fortin, Emanuelle; Sygusch, Jurgen; Izard, Tina

2010-01-01

Sorting nexin 9 (SNX9) functions in a complex with the GTPase dynamin-2 at clathrin-coated pits, where it provokes fission of vesicles to complete endocytosis. Here the SNX9·dynamin-2 complex binds to clathrin and adapter protein complex 2 (AP-2) that line these pits, and this occurs through interactions of the low complexity domain (LC4) of SNX9 with AP-2. Intriguingly, localization of the SNX9·dynamin-2 complex to clathrin-coated pits is blocked by interactions with the abundant glycolytic ...

Algorithm Sorts Groups Of Data

Science.gov (United States)

Evans, J. D.

1987-01-01

For efficient sorting, algorithm finds set containing minimum or maximum most significant data. Sets of data sorted as desired. Sorting process simplified by reduction of each multielement set of data to single representative number. First, each set of data expressed as polynomial with suitably chosen base, using elements of set as coefficients. Most significant element placed in term containing largest exponent. Base selected by examining range in value of data elements. Resulting series summed to yield single representative number. Numbers easily sorted, and each such number converted back to original set of data by successive division. Program written in BASIC.

Unified selective sorting approach to analyse multi-electrode extracellular data

Science.gov (United States)

Veerabhadrappa, R.; Lim, C. P.; Nguyen, T. T.; Berk, M.; Tye, S. J.; Monaghan, P.; Nahavandi, S.; Bhatti, A.

2016-01-01

Extracellular data analysis has become a quintessential method for understanding the neurophysiological responses to stimuli. This demands stringent techniques owing to the complicated nature of the recording environment. In this paper, we highlight the challenges in extracellular multi-electrode recording and data analysis as well as the limitations pertaining to some of the currently employed methodologies. To address some of the challenges, we present a unified algorithm in the form of selective sorting. Selective sorting is modelled around hypothesized generative model, which addresses the natural phenomena of spikes triggered by an intricate neuronal population. The algorithm incorporates Cepstrum of Bispectrum, ad hoc clustering algorithms, wavelet transforms, least square and correlation concepts which strategically tailors a sequence to characterize and form distinctive clusters. Additionally, we demonstrate the influence of noise modelled wavelets to sort overlapping spikes. The algorithm is evaluated using both raw and synthesized data sets with different levels of complexity and the performances are tabulated for comparison using widely accepted qualitative and quantitative indicators. PMID:27339770

An efficient non-dominated sorting method for evolutionary algorithms.

Science.gov (United States)

Fang, Hongbing; Wang, Qian; Tu, Yi-Cheng; Horstemeyer, Mark F

2008-01-01

We present a new non-dominated sorting algorithm to generate the non-dominated fronts in multi-objective optimization with evolutionary algorithms, particularly the NSGA-II. The non-dominated sorting algorithm used by NSGA-II has a time complexity of O(MN(2)) in generating non-dominated fronts in one generation (iteration) for a population size N and M objective functions. Since generating non-dominated fronts takes the majority of total computational time (excluding the cost of fitness evaluations) of NSGA-II, making this algorithm faster will significantly improve the overall efficiency of NSGA-II and other genetic algorithms using non-dominated sorting. The new non-dominated sorting algorithm proposed in this study reduces the number of redundant comparisons existing in the algorithm of NSGA-II by recording the dominance information among solutions from their first comparisons. By utilizing a new data structure called the dominance tree and the divide-and-conquer mechanism, the new algorithm is faster than NSGA-II for different numbers of objective functions. Although the number of solution comparisons by the proposed algorithm is close to that of NSGA-II when the number of objectives becomes large, the total computational time shows that the proposed algorithm still has better efficiency because of the adoption of the dominance tree structure and the divide-and-conquer mechanism.

Efficient Out of Core Sorting Algorithms for the Parallel Disks Model.

Science.gov (United States)

Kundeti, Vamsi; Rajasekaran, Sanguthevar

2011-11-01

In this paper we present efficient algorithms for sorting on the Parallel Disks Model (PDM). Numerous asymptotically optimal algorithms have been proposed in the literature. However many of these merge based algorithms have large underlying constants in the time bounds, because they suffer from the lack of read parallelism on PDM. The irregular consumption of the runs during the merge affects the read parallelism and contributes to the increased sorting time. In this paper we first introduce a novel idea called the dirty sequence accumulation that improves the read parallelism. Secondly, we show analytically that this idea can reduce the number of parallel I/O's required to sort the input close to the lower bound of [Formula: see text]. We experimentally verify our dirty sequence idea with the standard R-Way merge and show that our idea can reduce the number of parallel I/Os to sort on PDM significantly.

A 1.375-approximation algorithm for sorting by transpositions.

Science.gov (United States)

Elias, Isaac; Hartman, Tzvika

2006-01-01

Sorting permutations by transpositions is an important problem in genome rearrangements. A transposition is a rearrangement operation in which a segment is cut out of the permutation and pasted in a different location. The complexity of this problem is still open and it has been a 10-year-old open problem to improve the best known 1.5-approximation algorithm. In this paper, we provide a 1.375-approximation algorithm for sorting by transpositions. The algorithm is based on a new upper bound on the diameter of 3-permutations. In addition, we present some new results regarding the transposition diameter: we improve the lower bound for the transposition diameter of the symmetric group and determine the exact transposition diameter of simple permutations.

ScanSort{sup SM} at Whiteshell Laboratories for sorting of experimental cesium pond soil

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Downey, H., E-mail: heath.downey@amecfw.com [Amec Foster Wheeler, Portland, ME (United States)

2015-07-01

The ScanSort{sup SM} soil sorting system is a unique and efficient radiological instrument used for measuring and sorting bulk soils and volumetric materials. The system performs automatic radioassay and segregation of preconditioned material using a gamma spectroscopy system mounted above a conveyor belt. It was deployed to the Whiteshell Laboratories site to process the excavated soils generated during the decommissioning of the former Experimental Cesium Pond. The ScanSort{sup SM} system was utilized to segregate material with Cs-137 concentrations above the established site unrestricted release and restricted site reuse levels as well as demonstrated the ability to accurately determine the radioactivity concentrations of the radiologically-impacted material and to confidently segregate volumes of that material for appropriate final disposition. (author)

Microtechnology for cell manipulation and sorting

CERN Document Server

Tseng, Peter; Carlo, Dino

2017-01-01

This book delves into the recent developments in the microscale and microfluidic technologies that allow manipulation at the single and cell aggregate level. Expert authors review the dominant mechanisms that manipulate and sort biological structures, making this a state-of-the-art overview of conventional cell sorting techniques, the principles of microfluidics, and of microfluidic devices. All chapters highlight the benefits and drawbacks of each technique they discuss, which include magnetic, electrical, optical, acoustic, gravity/sedimentation, inertial, deformability, and aqueous two-phase systems as the dominant mechanisms utilized by microfluidic devices to handle biological samples. Each chapter explains the physics of the mechanism at work, and reviews common geometries and devices to help readers decide the type of style of device required for various applications. This book is appropriate for graduate-level biomedical engineering and analytical chemistry students, as well as engineers and scientist...

PhySortR: a fast, flexible tool for sorting phylogenetic trees in R.

Science.gov (United States)

Stephens, Timothy G; Bhattacharya, Debashish; Ragan, Mark A; Chan, Cheong Xin

2016-01-01

A frequent bottleneck in interpreting phylogenomic output is the need to screen often thousands of trees for features of interest, particularly robust clades of specific taxa, as evidence of monophyletic relationship and/or reticulated evolution. Here we present PhySortR, a fast, flexible R package for classifying phylogenetic trees. Unlike existing utilities, PhySortR allows for identification of both exclusive and non-exclusive clades uniting the target taxa based on tip labels (i.e., leaves) on a tree, with customisable options to assess clades within the context of the whole tree. Using simulated and empirical datasets, we demonstrate the potential and scalability of PhySortR in analysis of thousands of phylogenetic trees without a priori assumption of tree-rooting, and in yielding readily interpretable trees that unambiguously satisfy the query. PhySortR is a command-line tool that is freely available and easily automatable.

Sorting out Downside Beta

NARCIS (Netherlands)

G.T. Post (Thierry); P. van Vliet (Pim); S.D. Lansdorp (Simon)

2009-01-01

textabstractDownside risk, when properly defined and estimated, helps to explain the cross-section of US stock returns. Sorting stocks by a proper estimate of downside market beta leads to a substantially larger cross-sectional spread in average returns than sorting on regular market beta. This

Three Sorts of Naturalism

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Fink, Hans

2006-01-01

In "Two sorts of Naturalism" John McDowell is sketching his own sort of naturalism in ethics as an alternative to "bald naturalism". In this paper I distinguish materialist, idealist and absolute conceptions of nature and of naturalism in order to provide a framework for a clearer understanding...

Enhancement of Selection, Bubble and Insertion Sorting Algorithm

OpenAIRE

Muhammad Farooq Umar; Ehsan Ullah Munir; Shafqat Ali Shad; Muhammad Wasif Nisar

2014-01-01

In everyday life there is a large amount of data to arrange because sorting removes any ambiguities and make the data analysis and data processing very easy, efficient and provides with cost less effort. In this study a set of improved sorting algorithms are proposed which gives better performance and design idea. In this study five new sorting algorithms (Bi-directional Selection Sort, Bi-directional bubble sort, MIDBiDirectional Selection Sort, MIDBidirectional bubble sort and linear insert...

Sorting waves and associated eigenvalues

Science.gov (United States)

Carbonari, Costanza; Colombini, Marco; Solari, Luca

2017-04-01

The presence of mixed sediment always characterizes gravel bed rivers. Sorting processes take place during bed load transport of heterogeneous sediment mixtures. The two main elements necessary to the occurrence of sorting are the heterogeneous character of sediments and the presence of an active sediment transport. When these two key ingredients are simultaneously present, the segregation of bed material is consistently detected both in the field [7] and in laboratory [3] observations. In heterogeneous sediment transport, bed altimetric variations and sorting always coexist and both mechanisms are independently capable of driving the formation of morphological patterns. Indeed, consistent patterns of longitudinal and transverse sorting are identified almost ubiquitously. In some cases, such as bar formation [2] and channel bends [5], sorting acts as a stabilizing effect and therefore the dominant mechanism driving pattern formation is associated with bed altimetric variations. In other cases, such as longitudinal streaks, sorting enhances system instability and can therefore be considered the prevailing mechanism. Bedload sheets, first observed by Khunle and Southard [1], represent another classic example of a morphological pattern essentially triggered by sorting, as theoretical [4] and experimental [3] results suggested. These sorting waves cause strong spatial and temporal fluctuations of bedload transport rate typical observed in gravel bed rivers. The problem of bed load transport of a sediment mixture is formulated in the framework of a 1D linear stability analysis. The base state consists of a uniform flow in an infinitely wide channel with active bed load transport. The behaviour of the eigenvalues associated with fluid motion, bed evolution and sorting processes in the space of the significant flow and sediment parameters is analysed. A comparison is attempted with the results of the theoretical analysis of Seminara Colombini and Parker [4] and Stecca

4D CT sorting based on patient internal anatomy

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Ruijiang; Lewis, John H.; Cerviño, Laura I.; Jiang, Steve B.

2009-08-01

Respiratory motion during free-breathing computed tomography (CT) scan may cause significant errors in target definition for tumors in the thorax and upper abdomen. A four-dimensional (4D) CT technique has been widely used for treatment simulation of thoracic and abdominal cancer radiotherapy. The current 4D CT techniques require retrospective sorting of the reconstructed CT slices oversampled at the same couch position. Most sorting methods depend on external surrogates of respiratory motion recorded by extra instruments. However, respiratory signals obtained from these external surrogates may not always accurately represent the internal target motion, especially when irregular breathing patterns occur. We have proposed a new sorting method based on multiple internal anatomical features for multi-slice CT scan acquired in the cine mode. Four features are analyzed in this study, including the air content, lung area, lung density and body area. We use a measure called spatial coherence to select the optimal internal feature at each couch position and to generate the respiratory signals for 4D CT sorting. The proposed method has been evaluated for ten cancer patients (eight with thoracic cancer and two with abdominal cancer). For nine patients, the respiratory signals generated from the combined internal features are well correlated to those from external surrogates recorded by the real-time position management (RPM) system (average correlation: 0.95 ± 0.02), which is better than any individual internal measures at 95% confidence level. For these nine patients, the 4D CT images sorted by the combined internal features are almost identical to those sorted by the RPM signal. For one patient with an irregular breathing pattern, the respiratory signals given by the combined internal features do not correlate well with those from RPM (correlation: 0.68 ± 0.42). In this case, the 4D CT image sorted by our method presents fewer artifacts than that from the RPM signal. Our

Surface acoustic wave actuated cell sorting (SAWACS).

Science.gov (United States)

Franke, T; Braunmüller, S; Schmid, L; Wixforth, A; Weitz, D A

2010-03-21

We describe a novel microfluidic cell sorter which operates in continuous flow at high sorting rates. The device is based on a surface acoustic wave cell-sorting scheme and combines many advantages of fluorescence activated cell sorting (FACS) and fluorescence activated droplet sorting (FADS) in microfluidic channels. It is fully integrated on a PDMS device, and allows fast electronic control of cell diversion. We direct cells by acoustic streaming excited by a surface acoustic wave which deflects the fluid independently of the contrast in material properties of deflected objects and the continuous phase; thus the device underlying principle works without additional enhancement of the sorting by prior labelling of the cells with responsive markers such as magnetic or polarizable beads. Single cells are sorted directly from bulk media at rates as fast as several kHz without prior encapsulation into liquid droplet compartments as in traditional FACS. We have successfully directed HaCaT cells (human keratinocytes), fibroblasts from mice and MV3 melanoma cells. The low shear forces of this sorting method ensure that cells survive after sorting.

International Society for Analytical Cytology biosafety standard for sorting of unfixed cells.

Science.gov (United States)

Schmid, Ingrid; Lambert, Claude; Ambrozak, David; Marti, Gerald E; Moss, Delynn M; Perfetto, Stephen P

2007-06-01

Cell sorting of viable biological specimens has become very prevalent in laboratories involved in basic and clinical research. As these samples can contain infectious agents, precautions to protect instrument operators and the environment from hazards arising from the use of sorters are paramount. To this end the International Society of Analytical Cytology (ISAC) took a lead in establishing biosafety guidelines for sorting of unfixed cells (Schmid et al., Cytometry 1997;28:99-117). During the time period these recommendations have been available, they have become recognized worldwide as the standard practices and safety precautions for laboratories performing viable cell sorting experiments. However, the field of cytometry has progressed since 1997, and the document requires an update. Initially, suggestions about the document format and content were discussed among members of the ISAC Biosafety Committee and were incorporated into a draft version that was sent to all committee members for review. Comments were collected, carefully considered, and incorporated as appropriate into a draft document that was posted on the ISAC web site to invite comments from the flow cytometry community at large. The revised document was then submitted to ISAC Council for review. Simultaneously, further comments were sought from newly-appointed ISAC Biosafety committee members. This safety standard for performing viable cell sorting experiments was recently generated. The document contains background information on the biohazard potential of sorting and the hazard classification of infectious agents as well as recommendations on (1) sample handling, (2) operator training and personal protection, (3) laboratory design, (4) cell sorter set-up, maintenance, and decontamination, and (5) testing the instrument for the efficiency of aerosol containment. This standard constitutes an updated and expanded revision of the 1997 biosafety guideline document. It is intended to provide

Cache-Aware and Cache-Oblivious Adaptive Sorting

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Brodal, Gerth Stølting; Fagerberg, Rolf; Moruz, Gabriel

2005-01-01

Two new adaptive sorting algorithms are introduced which perform an optimal number of comparisons with respect to the number of inversions in the input. The first algorithm is based on a new linear time reduction to (non-adaptive) sorting. The second algorithm is based on a new division protocol...... for the GenericSort algorithm by Estivill-Castro and Wood. From both algorithms we derive I/O-optimal cache-aware and cache-oblivious adaptive sorting algorithms. These are the first I/O-optimal adaptive sorting algorithms....

An Unsupervised Online Spike-Sorting Framework.

Science.gov (United States)

Knieling, Simeon; Sridharan, Kousik S; Belardinelli, Paolo; Naros, Georgios; Weiss, Daniel; Mormann, Florian; Gharabaghi, Alireza

2016-08-01

Extracellular neuronal microelectrode recordings can include action potentials from multiple neurons. To separate spikes from different neurons, they can be sorted according to their shape, a procedure referred to as spike-sorting. Several algorithms have been reported to solve this task. However, when clustering outcomes are unsatisfactory, most of them are difficult to adjust to achieve the desired results. We present an online spike-sorting framework that uses feature normalization and weighting to maximize the distinctiveness between different spike shapes. Furthermore, multiple criteria are applied to either facilitate or prevent cluster fusion, thereby enabling experimenters to fine-tune the sorting process. We compare our method to established unsupervised offline (Wave_Clus (WC)) and online (OSort (OS)) algorithms by examining their performance in sorting various test datasets using two different scoring systems (AMI and the Adamos metric). Furthermore, we evaluate sorting capabilities on intra-operative recordings using established quality metrics. Compared to WC and OS, our algorithm achieved comparable or higher scores on average and produced more convincing sorting results for intra-operative datasets. Thus, the presented framework is suitable for both online and offline analysis and could substantially improve the quality of microelectrode-based data evaluation for research and clinical application.

Sorting method to extend the dynamic range of the Shack-Hartmann wave-front sensor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Junwon; Shack, Roland V.; Descour, Michael R.

2005-01-01

We propose a simple and powerful algorithm to extend the dynamic range of a Shack-Hartmann wave-front sensor. In a conventional Shack-Hartmann wave-front sensor the dynamic range is limited by the f-number of a lenslet, because the focal spot is required to remain in the area confined by the single lenslet. The sorting method proposed here eliminates such a limitation and extends the dynamic range by tagging each spot in a special sequence. Since the sorting method is a simple algorithm that does not change the measurement configuration, there is no requirement for extra hardware, multiple measurements, or complicated algorithms. We not only present the theory and a calculation example of the sorting method but also actually implement measurement of a highly aberrated wave front from nonrotational symmetric optics

Data Sorting Using Graphics Processing Units

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. J. Mišić

2012-06-01

Full Text Available Graphics processing units (GPUs have been increasingly used for general-purpose computation in recent years. The GPU accelerated applications are found in both scientific and commercial domains. Sorting is considered as one of the very important operations in many applications, so its efficient implementation is essential for the overall application performance. This paper represents an effort to analyze and evaluate the implementations of the representative sorting algorithms on the graphics processing units. Three sorting algorithms (Quicksort, Merge sort, and Radix sort were evaluated on the Compute Unified Device Architecture (CUDA platform that is used to execute applications on NVIDIA graphics processing units. Algorithms were tested and evaluated using an automated test environment with input datasets of different characteristics. Finally, the results of this analysis are briefly discussed.

Big Five Measurement via Q-Sort

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chris D. Fluckinger

2014-08-01

Full Text Available Socially desirable responding presents a difficult challenge in measuring personality. I tested whether a partially ipsative measure—a normatively scored Q-sort containing traditional Big Five items—would produce personality scores indicative of less socially desirable responding compared with Likert-based measures. Across both instructions to respond honestly and in the context of applying for a job, the Q-sort produced lower mean scores, lower intercorrelations between dimensions, and similar validity in predicting supervisor performance ratings to Likert. In addition, the Q-sort produced a more orthogonal structure (but not fully orthogonal when modeled at the latent level. These results indicate that the Q-sort method did constrain socially desirable responding. Researchers and practitioners should consider Big Five measurement via Q-sort for contexts in which high socially desirable responding is expected.

Magnet sorting algorithms

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dinev, D.

1996-01-01

Several new algorithms for sorting of dipole and/or quadrupole magnets in synchrotrons and storage rings are described. The algorithms make use of a combinatorial approach to the problem and belong to the class of random search algorithms. They use an appropriate metrization of the state space. The phase-space distortion (smear) is used as a goal function. Computational experiments for the case of the JINR-Dubna superconducting heavy ion synchrotron NUCLOTRON have shown a significant reduction of the phase-space distortion after the magnet sorting. (orig.)

Online sorting of recovered wood waste by automated XRF-technology: part II. Sorting efficiencies.

Science.gov (United States)

Hasan, A Rasem; Solo-Gabriele, Helena; Townsend, Timothy

2011-04-01

Sorting of waste wood is an important process practiced at recycling facilities in order to detect and divert contaminants from recycled wood products. Contaminants of concern include arsenic, chromium and copper found in chemically preserved wood. The objective of this research was to evaluate the sorting efficiencies of both treated and untreated parts of the wood waste stream, and metal (As, Cr and Cu) mass recoveries by the use of automated X-ray fluorescence (XRF) systems. A full-scale system was used for experimentation. This unit consisted of an XRF-detection chamber mounted on the top of a conveyor and a pneumatic slide-way diverter which sorted wood into presumed treated and presumed untreated piles. A randomized block design was used to evaluate the operational conveyance parameters of the system, including wood feed rate and conveyor belt speed. Results indicated that online sorting efficiencies of waste wood by XRF technology were high based on number and weight of pieces (70-87% and 75-92% for treated wood and 66-97% and 68-96% for untreated wood, respectively). These sorting efficiencies achieved mass recovery for metals of 81-99% for As, 75-95% for Cu and 82-99% of Cr. The incorrect sorting of wood was attributed almost equally to deficiencies in the detection and conveyance/diversion systems. Even with its deficiencies, the system was capable of producing a recyclable portion that met residential soil quality levels established for Florida, for an infeed that contained 5% of treated wood. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Word Sorts for General Music Classes

Science.gov (United States)

Cardany, Audrey Berger

2015-01-01

Word sorts are standard practice for aiding children in acquiring skills in English language arts. When included in the general music classroom, word sorts may aid students in acquiring a working knowledge of music vocabulary. The author shares a word sort activity drawn from vocabulary in John Lithgow's children's book "Never Play…

Adaptor Protein Complex-2 (AP-2) and Epsin-1 Mediate Protease-activated Receptor-1 Internalization via Phosphorylation- and Ubiquitination-dependent Sorting Signals*

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Buxin; Dores, Michael R.; Grimsey, Neil; Canto, Isabel; Barker, Breann L.; Trejo, JoAnn

2011-01-01

Signaling by protease-activated receptor-1 (PAR1), a G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) for thrombin, is regulated by desensitization and internalization. PAR1 desensitization is mediated by β-arrestins, like most classic GPCRs. In contrast, internalization of PAR1 occurs through a clathrin- and dynamin-dependent pathway independent of β-arrestins. PAR1 displays two modes of internalization. Constitutive internalization of unactivated PAR1 is mediated by the clathrin adaptor protein complex-2 (AP-2), where the μ2-adaptin subunit binds directly to a tyrosine-based motif localized within the receptor C-tail domain. However, AP-2 depletion only partially inhibits agonist-induced internalization of PAR1, suggesting a function for other clathrin adaptors in this process. Here, we now report that AP-2 and epsin-1 are both critical mediators of agonist-stimulated PAR1 internalization. We show that ubiquitination of PAR1 and the ubiquitin-interacting motifs of epsin-1 are required for epsin-1-dependent internalization of activated PAR1. In addition, activation of PAR1 promotes epsin-1 de-ubiquitination, which may increase its endocytic adaptor activity to facilitate receptor internalization. AP-2 also regulates activated PAR1 internalization via recognition of distal C-tail phosphorylation sites rather than the canonical tyrosine-based motif. Thus, AP-2 and epsin-1 are both required to promote efficient internalization of activated PAR1 and recognize discrete receptor sorting signals. This study defines a new pathway for internalization of mammalian GPCRs. PMID:21965661

A Sequence of Sorting Strategies.

Science.gov (United States)

Duncan, David R.; Litwiller, Bonnie H.

1984-01-01

Describes eight increasingly sophisticated and efficient sorting algorithms including linear insertion, binary insertion, shellsort, bubble exchange, shakersort, quick sort, straight selection, and tree selection. Provides challenges for the reader and the student to program these efficiently. (JM)

A fully automated non-external marker 4D-CT sorting algorithm using a serial cine scanning protocol.

Science.gov (United States)

Carnes, Greg; Gaede, Stewart; Yu, Edward; Van Dyk, Jake; Battista, Jerry; Lee, Ting-Yim

2009-04-07

Current 4D-CT methods require external marker data to retrospectively sort image data and generate CT volumes. In this work we develop an automated 4D-CT sorting algorithm that performs without the aid of data collected from an external respiratory surrogate. The sorting algorithm requires an overlapping cine scan protocol. The overlapping protocol provides a spatial link between couch positions. Beginning with a starting scan position, images from the adjacent scan position (which spatial match the starting scan position) are selected by maximizing the normalized cross correlation (NCC) of the images at the overlapping slice position. The process was continued by 'daisy chaining' all couch positions using the selected images until an entire 3D volume was produced. The algorithm produced 16 phase volumes to complete a 4D-CT dataset. Additional 4D-CT datasets were also produced using external marker amplitude and phase angle sorting methods. The image quality of the volumes produced by the different methods was quantified by calculating the mean difference of the sorted overlapping slices from adjacent couch positions. The NCC sorted images showed a significant decrease in the mean difference (p < 0.01) for the five patients.

Real-time implementation of a color sorting system

Science.gov (United States)

Srikanteswara, Srikathyanyani; Lu, Qiang O.; King, William; Drayer, Thomas H.; Conners, Richard W.; Kline, D. Earl; Araman, Philip A.

1997-09-01

Wood edge glued panels are used extensively in the furniture and cabinetry industries. They are used to make doors, tops, and sides of solid wood furniture and cabinets. Since lightly stained furniture and cabinets are gaining in popularity, there is an increasing demand to color sort the parts used to make these edge glued panels. The goal of the sorting processing is to create panels that are uniform in both color and intensity across their visible surface. If performed manually, the color sorting of edge-glued panel parts is very labor intensive and prone to error. This paper describes a complete machine vision system for performing this sort. This system uses two color line scan cameras for image input and a specially designed custom computing machine to allow real-time implementation. Users define the number of color classes that are to be used. An 'out' class is provided to handle unusually colored parts. The system removes areas of character mark, e.g., knots, mineral streak, etc., from consideration when assigning a color class to a part. The system also includes a better face algorithm for determining which part face would be the better to put on the side of the panel that will show. The throughput is two linear feet per second. Only a four inch between part spacing is required. This system has undergone extensive in plant testing and will be commercially available in the very near future. The results of this testing will be presented.

Fixing the Sorting Algorithm for Android, Java and Python

NARCIS (Netherlands)

C.P.T. de Gouw (Stijn); F.S. de Boer (Frank)

2015-01-01

htmlabstractTim Peters developed the Timsort hybrid sorting algorithm in 2002. TimSort was first developed for Python, a popular programming language, but later ported to Java (where it appears as java.util.Collections.sort and java.util.Arrays.sort). TimSort is today used as the default sorting

Intracellular Transport of Vaccinia Virus in HeLa Cells Requires WASH-VPEF/FAM21-Retromer Complexes and Recycling Molecules Rab11 and Rab22

Science.gov (United States)

Hsiao, Jye-Chian; Chu, Li-Wei; Lo, Yung-Tsun; Lee, Sue-Ping; Chen, Tzu-Jung; Huang, Cheng-Yen

2015-01-01

ABSTRACT Vaccinia virus, the prototype of the Orthopoxvirus genus in the family Poxviridae, infects a wide range of cell lines and animals. Vaccinia mature virus particles of the WR strain reportedly enter HeLa cells through fluid-phase endocytosis. However, the intracellular trafficking process of the vaccinia mature virus between cellular uptake and membrane fusion remains unknown. We used live imaging of single virus particles with a combination of various cellular vesicle markers, to track fluorescent vaccinia mature virus particle movement in cells. Furthermore, we performed functional interference assays to perturb distinct vesicle trafficking processes in order to delineate the specific route undertaken by vaccinia mature virus prior to membrane fusion and virus core uncoating in cells. Our results showed that vaccinia virus traffics to early endosomes, where recycling endosome markers Rab11 and Rab22 are recruited to participate in subsequent virus trafficking prior to virus core uncoating in the cytoplasm. Furthermore, we identified WASH-VPEF/FAM21-retromer complexes that mediate endosome fission and sorting of virus-containing vesicles prior to virus core uncoating in the cytoplasm. IMPORTANCE Vaccinia mature virions of the WR strain enter HeLa cells through fluid phase endocytosis. We previously demonstrated that virus-containing vesicles are internalized into phosphatidylinositol 3-phosphate positive macropinosomes, which are then fused with Rab5-positive early endosomes. However, the subsequent process of sorting the virion-containing vesicles prior to membrane fusion remains unclear. We dissected the intracellular trafficking pathway of vaccinia mature virions in cells up to virus core uncoating in cytoplasm. We show that vaccinia mature virions first travel to early endosomes. Subsequent trafficking events require the important endosome-tethered protein VPEF/FAM21, which recruits WASH and retromer protein complexes to the endosome. There, the complex

An algorithm for 4D CT image sorting using spatial continuity.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Chen; Liu, Jie

2013-01-01

4D CT, which could locate the position of the movement of the tumor in the entire respiratory cycle and reduce image artifacts effectively, has been widely used in making radiation therapy of tumors. The current 4D CT methods required external surrogates of respiratory motion obtained from extra instruments. However, respiratory signals recorded by these external makers may not always accurately represent the internal tumor and organ movements, especially when irregular breathing patterns happened. In this paper we have proposed a novel automatic 4D CT sorting algorithm that performs without these external surrogates. The sorting algorithm requires collecting the image data with a cine scan protocol. Beginning with the first couch position, images from the adjacent couch position are selected out according to spatial continuity. The process is continued until images from all couch positions are sorted and the entire 3D volume is produced. The algorithm is verified by respiratory phantom image data and clinical image data. The primary test results show that the 4D CT images created by our algorithm have eliminated the motion artifacts effectively and clearly demonstrated the movement of tumor and organ in the breath period.

A Preliminary Study of MSD-First Radix-Sorting Methed

OpenAIRE

小田, 哲久

1984-01-01

Many kinds of sorting algorithms have been developed from the age of Punched Card System. Nowadays, any sorting algorithm can be called either (1) internal sorting methed or (2) external sorting method. Internal sorting method is used only when the number of records to be sorted (N) is not so large for the internal memory of the computer system. Larger memory space has become available with the aid of semiconductor technology. Therefore, it might be desired to develop a new internal sorting m...

Stochastic Model of Vesicular Sorting in Cellular Organelles

Science.gov (United States)

Vagne, Quentin; Sens, Pierre

2018-02-01

The proper sorting of membrane components by regulated exchange between cellular organelles is crucial to intracellular organization. This process relies on the budding and fusion of transport vesicles, and should be strongly influenced by stochastic fluctuations, considering the relatively small size of many organelles. We identify the perfect sorting of two membrane components initially mixed in a single compartment as a first passage process, and we show that the mean sorting time exhibits two distinct regimes as a function of the ratio of vesicle fusion to budding rates. Low ratio values lead to fast sorting but result in a broad size distribution of sorted compartments dominated by small entities. High ratio values result in two well-defined sorted compartments but sorting is exponentially slow. Our results suggest an optimal balance between vesicle budding and fusion for the rapid and efficient sorting of membrane components and highlight the importance of stochastic effects for the steady-state organization of intracellular compartments.

Application of visible spectroscopy in waste sorting

Science.gov (United States)

Spiga, Philippe; Bourely, Antoine

2011-10-01

Today, waste recycling, (bottles, papers...), is a mechanical operation: the waste are crushed, fused and agglomerated in order to obtain new manufactured products (e.g. new bottles, clothes ...). The plastics recycling is the main application in the color sorting process. The colorless plastics recovered are more valuable than the colored plastics. Other emergent applications are in the paper sorting, where the main goal is to sort dyed paper from white papers. Up to now, Pellenc Selective Technologies has manufactured color sorting machines based on RGB cameras. Three dimensions (red, green and blue) are no longer sufficient to detect low quantities of dye in the considered waste. In order to increase the efficiency of the color detection, a new sorting machine, based on visible spectroscopy, has been developed. This paper presents the principles of the two approaches and their difference in terms of sorting performance, making visible spectroscopy a clear winner.

Application of Quality Function Deployment (QFD) method and kano model to redesign fresh fruit bunches sorting tool

Science.gov (United States)

Anizar; Siregar, I.; Yahya, I.; Yesika, N.

2018-02-01

The activity of lowering fresh fruit bunches (FFB) from truck to sorting floor is performed manually by workers using a sorting tool. Previously, the sorting tool used is a pointed iron bar with a T-shaped handle. Changes made to the sorting tool causes several complaints on worker and affect the time to lower the fruit. The purpose of this article is to obtain the design of an FFB sorting tool that suits the needs of these workers by applying the Quality Function Deployment (QFD) and Kano Model methods. Both of the two methods will be integrated to find the design that matches workers’ image and psychological feeling. The main parameters are to obtain the customer requirements of the palm fruit loading workers, to find the most important technical characteristics and critical part affecting the quality of the FFB sorting tool. The customer requirements of the palm loading workers are the following : the color of the coating paint is gray, the bar material is made of stainless pipe, the main grip coating material is made of grip, the tip material is made of the spring steel, the additional grip is made of rubber and the handle is of triangular shape.

UCSD SORT Test (U-SORT): Examination of a newly developed organizational skills assessment tool for severely mentally ill adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Tiznado, Denisse; Mausbach, Brent T; Cardenas, Veronica; Jeste, Dilip V; Patterson, Thomas L

2010-12-01

The present investigation examined the validity of a new cognitive test intended to assess organizational skills. Participants were 180 middle-aged or older participants with a Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition diagnosis of schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder. Participants' organizational skills were measured using our newly developed University of California, San Diego Sorting Test (U-SORT), a performance-based test of organizational ability in which subjects sort objects (e.g., battery, pens) from a "junk drawer" into "keep" versus "trash" piles. Significant correlations between U-SORT scores and theoretically similar constructs (i.e. functional capacity, cognitive functioning, and clinical symptoms) were acceptable (mean r = 0.34), and weak correlations were found between U-SORT scores and theoretically dissimilar constructs (e.g., health symptoms, social support, gender; mean r = 0.06 ). The correlation between assessment scores provides preliminary support for the U-SORT test as a brief, easily transportable, reliable, and valid measure of functioning for this population.

N-Glycosylation instead of cholesterol mediates oligomerization and apical sorting of GPI-APs in FRT cells.

Science.gov (United States)

Imjeti, Naga Salaija; Lebreton, Stéphanie; Paladino, Simona; de la Fuente, Erwin; Gonzalez, Alfonso; Zurzolo, Chiara

2011-12-01

Sorting of glycosylphosphatidyl-inositol--anchored proteins (GPI-APs) in polarized epithelial cells is not fully understood. Oligomerization in the Golgi complex has emerged as the crucial event driving apical segregation of GPI-APs in two different kind of epithelial cells, Madin-Darby canine kidney (MDCK) and Fisher rat thyroid (FRT) cells, but whether the mechanism is conserved is unknown. In MDCK cells cholesterol promotes GPI-AP oligomerization, as well as apical sorting of GPI-APs. Here we show that FRT cells lack this cholesterol-driven oligomerization as apical sorting mechanism. In these cells both apical and basolateral GPI-APs display restricted diffusion in the Golgi likely due to a cholesterol-enriched membrane environment. It is striking that N-glycosylation is the critical event for oligomerization and apical sorting of GPI-APs in FRT cells but not in MDCK cells. Our data indicate that at least two mechanisms exist to determine oligomerization in the Golgi leading to apical sorting of GPI-APs. One depends on cholesterol, and the other depends on N-glycosylation and is insensitive to cholesterol addition or depletion.

A protocadherin-cadherin-FLRT3 complex controls cell adhesion and morphogenesis.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xuejun Chen

2009-12-01

Full Text Available Paraxial protocadherin (PAPC and fibronectin leucine-rich domain transmembrane protein-3 (FLRT3 are induced by TGFbeta signaling in Xenopus embryos and both regulate morphogenesis by inhibiting C-cadherin mediated cell adhesion.We have investigated the functional and physical relationships between PAPC, FLRT3, and C-cadherin. Although neither PAPC nor FLRT3 are required for each other to regulate C-cadherin adhesion, they do interact functionally and physically, and they form a complex with cadherins. By itself PAPC reduces cell adhesion physiologically to induce cell sorting, while FLRT3 disrupts adhesion excessively to cause cell dissociation. However, when expressed together PAPC limits the cell dissociating and tissue disrupting activity of FLRT3 to make it effective in physiological cell sorting. PAPC counteracts FLRT3 function by inhibiting the recruitment of the GTPase RND1 to the FLRT3 cytoplasmic domain.PAPC and FLRT3 form a functional complex with cadherins and PAPC functions as a molecular "governor" to maintain FLRT3 activity at the optimal level for physiological regulation of C-cadherin adhesion, cell sorting, and morphogenesis.

Categorizing Variations of Student-Implemented Sorting Algorithms

Science.gov (United States)

Taherkhani, Ahmad; Korhonen, Ari; Malmi, Lauri

2012-01-01

In this study, we examined freshmen students' sorting algorithm implementations in data structures and algorithms' course in two phases: at the beginning of the course before the students received any instruction on sorting algorithms, and after taking a lecture on sorting algorithms. The analysis revealed that many students have insufficient…

Mechanism for Particle Transport and Size Sorting via Low-Frequency Vibrations

Science.gov (United States)

Sherrit, Stewart; Scott, James S.; Bar-Cohen, Yoseph; Badescu, Mircea; Bao, Xiaoqi

2010-01-01

There is a need for effective sample handling tools to deliver and sort particles for analytical instruments that are planned for use in future NASA missions. Specifically, a need exists for a compact mechanism that allows transporting and sieving particle sizes of powdered cuttings and soil grains that may be acquired by sampling tools such as a robotic scoop or drill. The required tool needs to be low mass and compact to operate from such platforms as a lander or rover. This technology also would be applicable to sample handling when transporting samples to analyzers and sorting particles by size.

Quartile and Outlier Detection on Heterogeneous Clusters Using Distributed Radix Sort

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Meredith, Jeremy S.; Vetter, Jeffrey S.

2011-01-01

In the past few years, performance improvements in CPUs and memory technologies have outpaced those of storage systems. When extrapolated to the exascale, this trend places strict limits on the amount of data that can be written to disk for full analysis, resulting in an increased reliance on characterizing in-memory data. Many of these characterizations are simple, but require sorted data. This paper explores an example of this type of characterization - the identification of quartiles and statistical outliers - and presents a performance analysis of a distributed heterogeneous radix sort as well as an assessment of current architectural bottlenecks.

Efficient Architecture for Spike Sorting in Reconfigurable Hardware

Science.gov (United States)

Hwang, Wen-Jyi; Lee, Wei-Hao; Lin, Shiow-Jyu; Lai, Sheng-Ying

2013-01-01

This paper presents a novel hardware architecture for fast spike sorting. The architecture is able to perform both the feature extraction and clustering in hardware. The generalized Hebbian algorithm (GHA) and fuzzy C-means (FCM) algorithm are used for feature extraction and clustering, respectively. The employment of GHA allows efficient computation of principal components for subsequent clustering operations. The FCM is able to achieve near optimal clustering for spike sorting. Its performance is insensitive to the selection of initial cluster centers. The hardware implementations of GHA and FCM feature low area costs and high throughput. In the GHA architecture, the computation of different weight vectors share the same circuit for lowering the area costs. Moreover, in the FCM hardware implementation, the usual iterative operations for updating the membership matrix and cluster centroid are merged into one single updating process to evade the large storage requirement. To show the effectiveness of the circuit, the proposed architecture is physically implemented by field programmable gate array (FPGA). It is embedded in a System-on-Chip (SOC) platform for performance measurement. Experimental results show that the proposed architecture is an efficient spike sorting design for attaining high classification correct rate and high speed computation. PMID:24189331

Efficient Architecture for Spike Sorting in Reconfigurable Hardware

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sheng-Ying Lai

2013-11-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a novel hardware architecture for fast spike sorting. The architecture is able to perform both the feature extraction and clustering in hardware. The generalized Hebbian algorithm (GHA and fuzzy C-means (FCM algorithm are used for feature extraction and clustering, respectively. The employment of GHA allows efficient computation of principal components for subsequent clustering operations. The FCM is able to achieve near optimal clustering for spike sorting. Its performance is insensitive to the selection of initial cluster centers. The hardware implementations of GHA and FCM feature low area costs and high throughput. In the GHA architecture, the computation of different weight vectors share the same circuit for lowering the area costs. Moreover, in the FCM hardware implementation, the usual iterative operations for updating the membership matrix and cluster centroid are merged into one single updating process to evade the large storage requirement. To show the effectiveness of the circuit, the proposed architecture is physically implemented by field programmable gate array (FPGA. It is embedded in a System-on-Chip (SOC platform for performance measurement. Experimental results show that the proposed architecture is an efficient spike sorting design for attaining high classification correct rate and high speed computation.

Implementation of Serial and Parallel Bubble Sort on Fpga

OpenAIRE

Purnomo, Dwi Marhaendro Jati; Arinaldi, Ahmad; Priyantini, Dwi Teguh; Wibisono, Ari; Febrian, Andreas

2016-01-01

Sorting is common process in computational world. Its utilization are on many fields from research to industry. There are many sorting algorithm in nowadays. One of the simplest yet powerful is bubble sort. In this study, bubble sort is implemented on FPGA. The implementation was taken on serial and parallel approach. Serial and parallel bubble sort then compared by means of its memory, execution time, and utility which comprises slices and LUTs. The experiments show that serial bubble sort r...

A cargo-sorting DNA robot.

Science.gov (United States)

Thubagere, Anupama J; Li, Wei; Johnson, Robert F; Chen, Zibo; Doroudi, Shayan; Lee, Yae Lim; Izatt, Gregory; Wittman, Sarah; Srinivas, Niranjan; Woods, Damien; Winfree, Erik; Qian, Lulu

2017-09-15

Two critical challenges in the design and synthesis of molecular robots are modularity and algorithm simplicity. We demonstrate three modular building blocks for a DNA robot that performs cargo sorting at the molecular level. A simple algorithm encoding recognition between cargos and their destinations allows for a simple robot design: a single-stranded DNA with one leg and two foot domains for walking, and one arm and one hand domain for picking up and dropping off cargos. The robot explores a two-dimensional testing ground on the surface of DNA origami, picks up multiple cargos of two types that are initially at unordered locations, and delivers them to specified destinations until all molecules are sorted into two distinct piles. The robot is designed to perform a random walk without any energy supply. Exploiting this feature, a single robot can repeatedly sort multiple cargos. Localization on DNA origami allows for distinct cargo-sorting tasks to take place simultaneously in one test tube or for multiple robots to collectively perform the same task. Copyright © 2017, American Association for the Advancement of Science.

New age radiometric ore sorting - the elegant solution

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gordon, H.P.; Heuer, T.

2000-01-01

Radiometric ore sorting technology and application are described in two parts. Part I reviews the history of radiometric sorting in the minerals industry and describes the latest developments in radiometric sorting technology. Part II describes the history, feasibility study and approach used in the application of the new technology at Rossing Uranium Limited. There has been little progress in the field of radiometric sorting since the late 1970s. This has changed with the development of a high capacity radiometric sorter designed to operate on low-grade ore in the +75mm / -300mm size fraction. This has been designed specifically for an application at Rossing. Rossing has a long history in radiometric sorting dating back to 1968 when initial tests were conducted on the Rossing prospect. Past feasibility studies concluded that radiometric sorting would not conclusively reduce the unit cost of production unless sorting was used to increase production levels. The current feasibility study shows that the application of new radiometric sorter technology makes sorting viable without increasing production, and significantly more attractive with increased production. A pilot approach to confirm sorter performance is described. (author)

echinus, required for interommatidial cell sorting and cell death in the Drosophila pupal retina, encodes a protein with homology to ubiquitin-specific proteases

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gorski Sharon M

2007-07-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Programmed cell death is used to remove excess cells between ommatidia in the Drosophila pupal retina. This death is required to establish the crystalline, hexagonal packing of ommatidia that characterizes the adult fly eye. In previously described echinus mutants, interommatidial cell sorting, which precedes cell death, occurred relatively normally. Interommatidial cell death was partially suppressed, resulting in adult eyes that contained excess pigment cells, and in which ommatidia were mildly disordered. These results have suggested that echinus functions in the pupal retina primarily to promote interommatidial cell death. Results We generated a number of new echinus alleles, some likely null mutants. Analysis of these alleles provides evidence that echinus has roles in cell sorting as well as cell death. echinus encodes a protein with homology to ubiquitin-specific proteases. These proteins cleave ubiquitin-conjugated proteins at the ubiquitin C-terminus. The echinus locus encodes multiple splice forms, including two proteins that lack residues thought to be critical for deubiquitination activity. Surprisingly, ubiquitous expression in the eye of versions of Echinus that lack residues critical for ubiquitin specific protease activity, as well as a version predicted to be functional, rescue the echinus loss-of-function phenotype. Finally, genetic interactions were not detected between echinus loss and gain-of-function and a number of known apoptotic regulators. These include Notch, EGFR, the caspases Dronc, Drice, Dcp-1, Dream, the caspase activators, Rpr, Hid, and Grim, the caspase inhibitor DIAP1, and Lozenge or Klumpfuss. Conclusion The echinus locus encodes multiple splice forms of a protein with homology to ubiquitin-specific proteases, but protease activity is unlikely to be required for echinus function, at least when echinus is overexpressed. Characterization of likely echinus null alleles and genetic interactions

Application of a fast sorting algorithm to the assignment of mass spectrometric cross-linking data.

Science.gov (United States)

Petrotchenko, Evgeniy V; Borchers, Christoph H

2014-09-01

Cross-linking combined with MS involves enzymatic digestion of cross-linked proteins and identifying cross-linked peptides. Assignment of cross-linked peptide masses requires a search of all possible binary combinations of peptides from the cross-linked proteins' sequences, which becomes impractical with increasing complexity of the protein system and/or if digestion enzyme specificity is relaxed. Here, we describe the application of a fast sorting algorithm to search large sequence databases for cross-linked peptide assignments based on mass. This same algorithm has been used previously for assigning disulfide-bridged peptides (Choi et al., ), but has not previously been applied to cross-linking studies. © 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Forest, Trees, Dynamics: Results from a novel Wisconsin Card Sorting Test variant Protocol for Studying Global-Local Attention and Complex Cognitive Processes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Benjamin eCowley

2016-02-01

Full Text Available BackgroundRecognition of objects and their context relies heavily on the integrated functioning of global and local visual processing. In a realistic setting such as work, this processing becomes a sustained activity, implying a consequent interaction with executive functions.MotivationThere have been many studies of either global-local attention or executive functions; however it is relatively novel to combine these processes to study a more ecological form of attention. We aim to explore the phenomenon of global-local processing during a task requiring sustained attention and working memory.MethodsWe develop and test a novel protocol for global-local dissociation, with task structure including phases of divided ('rule search' and selective ('rule found' attention, based on the Wisconsin Card Sorting Task.We test it in a laboratory study with 25 participants, and report on behaviour measures (physiological data was also gathered, but not reported here. We develop novel stimuli with more naturalistic levels of information and noise, based primarily on face photographs, with consequently more ecological validity.ResultsWe report behavioural results indicating that sustained difficulty when participants test their hypotheses impacts matching-task performance, and diminishes the global precedence effect. Results also show a dissociation between subjectively experienced difficulty and objective dimension of performance, and establish the internal validity of the protocol.ContributionWe contribute an advance in the state of the art for testing global-local attention processes in concert with complex cognition. With three results we establish a connection between global-local dissociation and aspects of complex cognition. Our protocol also improves ecological validity and opens options for testing additional interactions in future work.

A Comparison of Card-sorting Analysis Methods

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nawaz, Ather

2012-01-01

This study investigates how the choice of analysis method for card sorting studies affects the suggested information structure for websites. In the card sorting technique, a variety of methods are used to analyse the resulting data. The analysis of card sorting data helps user experience (UX......) designers to discover the patterns in how users make classifications and thus to develop an optimal, user-centred website structure. During analysis, the recurrence of patterns of classification between users influences the resulting website structure. However, the algorithm used in the analysis influences...... the recurrent patterns found and thus has consequences for the resulting website design. This paper draws an attention to the choice of card sorting analysis and techniques and shows how it impacts the results. The research focuses on how the same data for card sorting can lead to different website structures...

Coupling amplified DNA from flow-sorted chromosomes to high-density SNP mapping in barley

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bartoš Jan

2008-06-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Flow cytometry facilitates sorting of single chromosomes and chromosome arms which can be used for targeted genome analysis. However, the recovery of microgram amounts of DNA needed for some assays requires sorting of millions of chromosomes which is laborious and time consuming. Yet, many genomic applications such as development of genetic maps or physical mapping do not require large DNA fragments. In such cases time-consuming de novo sorting can be minimized by utilizing whole-genome amplification. Results Here we report a protocol optimized in barley including amplification of DNA from only ten thousand chromosomes, which can be isolated in less than one hour. Flow-sorted chromosomes were treated with proteinase K and amplified using Phi29 multiple displacement amplification (MDA. Overnight amplification in a 20-microlitre reaction produced 3.7 – 5.7 micrograms DNA with a majority of products between 5 and 30 kb. To determine the purity of sorted fractions and potential amplification bias we used quantitative PCR for specific genes on each chromosome. To extend the analysis to a whole genome level we performed an oligonucleotide pool assay (OPA for interrogation of 1524 loci, of which 1153 loci had known genetic map positions. Analysis of unamplified genomic DNA of barley cv. Akcent using this OPA resulted in 1426 markers with present calls. Comparison with three replicates of amplified genomic DNA revealed >99% concordance. DNA samples from amplified chromosome 1H and a fraction containing chromosomes 2H – 7H were examined. In addition to loci with known map positions, 349 loci with unknown map positions were included. Based on this analysis 40 new loci were mapped to 1H. Conclusion The results indicate a significant potential of using this approach for physical mapping. Moreover, the study showed that multiple displacement amplification of flow-sorted chromosomes is highly efficient and representative which

A novel automated spike sorting algorithm with adaptable feature extraction.

Science.gov (United States)

Bestel, Robert; Daus, Andreas W; Thielemann, Christiane

2012-10-15

To study the electrophysiological properties of neuronal networks, in vitro studies based on microelectrode arrays have become a viable tool for analysis. Although in constant progress, a challenging task still remains in this area: the development of an efficient spike sorting algorithm that allows an accurate signal analysis at the single-cell level. Most sorting algorithms currently available only extract a specific feature type, such as the principal components or Wavelet coefficients of the measured spike signals in order to separate different spike shapes generated by different neurons. However, due to the great variety in the obtained spike shapes, the derivation of an optimal feature set is still a very complex issue that current algorithms struggle with. To address this problem, we propose a novel algorithm that (i) extracts a variety of geometric, Wavelet and principal component-based features and (ii) automatically derives a feature subset, most suitable for sorting an individual set of spike signals. Thus, there is a new approach that evaluates the probability distribution of the obtained spike features and consequently determines the candidates most suitable for the actual spike sorting. These candidates can be formed into an individually adjusted set of spike features, allowing a separation of the various shapes present in the obtained neuronal signal by a subsequent expectation maximisation clustering algorithm. Test results with simulated data files and data obtained from chick embryonic neurons cultured on microelectrode arrays showed an excellent classification result, indicating the superior performance of the described algorithm approach. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Improved Sorting-Based Procedure for Integer Programming

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dantchev, Stefan

2002-01-01

Recently, Cornuéjols and Dawande have considered a special class of 0-1 programs that turns out to be hard for existing IP solvers. One of them is a sorting-based algorithm, based on an idea of Wolsey. In this paper, we show how to improve both the running time and the space requirements...... of this algorithm. The drastic reduction of space needed allows us to solve much larger instances than was possible before using this technique....

Three Sorts of Naturalism

OpenAIRE

Fink, Hans

2006-01-01

In "Two sorts of Naturalism" John McDowell is sketching his own sort of naturalism in ethics as an alternative to "bald naturalism". In this paper I distinguish materialist, idealist and absolute conceptions of nature and of naturalism in order to provide a framework for a clearer understanding of what McDowell's own naturalism amounts to. I argue that nothing short of an absolute naturalism will do for a number of McDowell's own purposes, but that it is far from obvious that this is his posi...

Narcissistic self-sorting in self-assembled cages of rare Earth metals and rigid ligands.

Science.gov (United States)

Johnson, Amber M; Wiley, Calvin A; Young, Michael C; Zhang, Xing; Lyon, Yana; Julian, Ryan R; Hooley, Richard J

2015-05-04

Highly selective, narcissistic self-sorting can be achieved in the formation of self-assembled cages of rare earth metals with multianionic salicylhydrazone ligands. The assembly process is highly sensitive to the length of the ligand and the coordination geometry. Most surprisingly, high-fidelity sorting is possible between ligands of identical coordination angle and geometry, differing only in a single functional group on the ligand core, which is not involved in the coordination. Supramolecular effects allow discrimination between pendant functions as similar as carbonyl or methylene groups in a complex assembly process. © 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

A novel sorting algorithm and its application to a gamma-ray telescope asynchronous data acquisition system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Colavita, A.; Capello, G.

1997-01-01

In this paper we present a novel parallel sorting algorithm, which works through a cascade of elementary sorting units and leads to a scalable architecture. The algorithm's complexity is analyzed and compared with a classical parallel algorithm. It comes out that, although it may be less efficient than classical approaches, the proposed algorithm is highly suited for VLSI implementation for its simplicity and scalability. The paper describes the applications of such device to the asynchronous data acquisition for a gamma-ray telescope. (orig.)

Technique of Substantiating Requirements for the Vision Systems of Industrial Robotic Complexes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

V. Ya. Kolyuchkin

2015-01-01

Full Text Available In references, there is a lack of approaches to describe the justified technical requirements for the vision systems (VS of industrial robotics complexes (IRC. Therefore, an objective of the work is to develop a technique that allows substantiating requirements for the main quality indicators of VS, functioning as a part of the IRC.The proposed technique uses a model representation of VS, which, as a part of the IRC information system, sorts the objects in the work area, as well as measures their linear and angular coordinates. To solve the problem of statement there is a proposal to define the target function of a designed IRC as a dependence of the IRC indicator efficiency on the VS quality indicators. The paper proposes to use, as an indicator of the IRC efficiency, the probability of a lack of fault products when manufacturing. Based on the functions the VS perform as a part of the IRC information system, the accepted indicators of VS quality are as follows: a probability of the proper recognition of objects in the working IRC area, and confidential probabilities of measuring linear and angular orientation coordinates of objects with the specified values of permissible error. Specific values of these errors depend on the orientation errors of working bodies of manipulators that are a part of the IRC. The paper presents mathematical expressions that determine the functional dependence of the probability of a lack of fault products when manufacturing on the VS quality indicators and the probability of failures of IRC technological equipment.The offered technique for substantiating engineering requirements for the VS of IRC has novelty. The results obtained in this work can be useful for professionals involved in IRC VS development, and, in particular, in development of VS algorithms and software.

Engineering a Cache-Oblivious Sorting Algorithm

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Brodal, Gerth Stølting; Fagerberg, Rolf; Vinther, Kristoffer

2007-01-01

This paper is an algorithmic engineering study of cache-oblivious sorting. We investigate by empirical methods a number of implementation issues and parameter choices for the cache-oblivious sorting algorithm Lazy Funnelsort, and compare the final algorithm with Quicksort, the established standard...

An extensible infrastructure for fully automated spike sorting during online experiments.

Science.gov (United States)

Santhanam, Gopal; Sahani, Maneesh; Ryu, Stephen; Shenoy, Krishna

2004-01-01

When recording extracellular neural activity, it is often necessary to distinguish action potentials arising from distinct cells near the electrode tip, a process commonly referred to as "spike sorting." In a number of experiments, notably those that involve direct neuroprosthetic control of an effector, this cell-by-cell classification of the incoming signal must be achieved in real time. Several commercial offerings are available for this task, but all of these require some manual supervision per electrode, making each scheme cumbersome with large electrode counts. We present a new infrastructure that leverages existing unsupervised algorithms to sort and subsequently implement the resulting signal classification rules for each electrode using a commercially available Cerebus neural signal processor. We demonstrate an implementation of this infrastructure to classify signals from a cortical electrode array, using a probabilistic clustering algorithm (described elsewhere). The data were collected from a rhesus monkey performing a delayed center-out reach task. We used both sorted and unsorted (thresholded) action potentials from an array implanted in pre-motor cortex to "predict" the reach target, a common decoding operation in neuroprosthetic research. The use of sorted spikes led to an improvement in decoding accuracy of between 3.6 and 6.4%.

Buoyancy-activated cell sorting using targeted biotinylated albumin microbubbles.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yu-Ren Liou

Full Text Available Cell analysis often requires the isolation of certain cell types. Various isolation methods have been applied to cell sorting, including fluorescence-activated cell sorting and magnetic-activated cell sorting. However, these conventional approaches involve exerting mechanical forces on the cells, thus risking cell damage. In this study we applied a novel isolation method called buoyancy-activated cell sorting, which involves using biotinylated albumin microbubbles (biotin-MBs conjugated with antibodies (i.e., targeted biotin-MBs. Albumin MBs are widely used as contrast agents in ultrasound imaging due to their good biocompatibility and stability. For conjugating antibodies, biotin is conjugated onto the albumin MB shell via covalent bonds and the biotinylated antibodies are conjugated using an avidin-biotin system. The albumin microbubbles had a mean diameter of 2 μm with a polydispersity index of 0.16. For cell separation, the MDA-MB-231 cells are incubated with the targeted biotin-MBs conjugated with anti-CD44 for 10 min, centrifuged at 10 g for 1 min, and then allowed 1 hour at 4 °C for separation. The results indicate that targeted biotin-MBs conjugated with anti-CD44 antibodies can be used to separate MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells; more than 90% of the cells were collected in the MB layer when the ratio of the MBs to cells was higher than 70:1. Furthermore, we found that the separating efficiency was higher for targeted biotin-MBs than for targeted avidin-incorporated albumin MBs (avidin-MBs, which is the most common way to make targeted albumin MBs. We also demonstrated that the recovery rate of targeted biotin-MBs was up to 88% and the sorting purity was higher than 84% for a a heterogenous cell population containing MDA-MB-231 cells (CD44(+ and MDA-MB-453 cells (CD44-, which are classified as basal-like breast cancer cells and luminal breast cancer cells, respectively. Knowing that the CD44(+ is a commonly used cancer

Hierarchical Adaptive Means (HAM) clustering for hardware-efficient, unsupervised and real-time spike sorting.

Science.gov (United States)

Paraskevopoulou, Sivylla E; Wu, Di; Eftekhar, Amir; Constandinou, Timothy G

2014-09-30

This work presents a novel unsupervised algorithm for real-time adaptive clustering of neural spike data (spike sorting). The proposed Hierarchical Adaptive Means (HAM) clustering method combines centroid-based clustering with hierarchical cluster connectivity to classify incoming spikes using groups of clusters. It is described how the proposed method can adaptively track the incoming spike data without requiring any past history, iteration or training and autonomously determines the number of spike classes. Its performance (classification accuracy) has been tested using multiple datasets (both simulated and recorded) achieving a near-identical accuracy compared to k-means (using 10-iterations and provided with the number of spike classes). Also, its robustness in applying to different feature extraction methods has been demonstrated by achieving classification accuracies above 80% across multiple datasets. Last but crucially, its low complexity, that has been quantified through both memory and computation requirements makes this method hugely attractive for future hardware implementation. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Rapid assay for cell age response to radiation by electronic volume flow cell sorting

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Freyer, J.P.; Wilder, M.E.; Raju, M.R.

1987-01-01

A new technique is described for measuring cell survival as a function of cell cycle position using flow cytometric cell sorting on the basis of electronic volume signals. Sorting of cells into different cell age compartments is demonstrated for three different cell lines commonly used in radiobiological research. Using flow cytometric DNA content analysis and [ 3 H]thymidine autoradiography of the sorted cell populations, it is demonstrated that resolution of the age compartment separation is as good as or better than that reported for other cell synchronizing techniques. Variation in cell survival as a function of position in the cell cycle after a single dose of radiation as measured by volume cell sorting is similar to that determined by other cell synchrony techniques. Advantages of this method include: (1) no treatment of the cells is required, thus, this method is noncytotoxic; (2) no cell cycle progression is needed to obtain different cell age compartments; (3) the cell population can be held in complete growth medium at any desired temperature during sorting; (4) a complete radiation age - response assay can be plated in 2 h. Applications of this method are discussed, along with some technical limitations. (author)

Distinct forms of mitochondrial TOM-TIM supercomplexes define signal-dependent states of preprotein sorting.

Science.gov (United States)

Chacinska, Agnieszka; van der Laan, Martin; Mehnert, Carola S; Guiard, Bernard; Mick, David U; Hutu, Dana P; Truscott, Kaye N; Wiedemann, Nils; Meisinger, Chris; Pfanner, Nikolaus; Rehling, Peter

2010-01-01

Mitochondrial import of cleavable preproteins occurs at translocation contact sites, where the translocase of the outer membrane (TOM) associates with the presequence translocase of the inner membrane (TIM23) in a supercomplex. Different views exist on the mechanism of how TIM23 mediates preprotein sorting to either the matrix or inner membrane. On the one hand, two TIM23 forms were proposed, a matrix transport form containing the presequence translocase-associated motor (PAM; TIM23-PAM) and a sorting form containing Tim21 (TIM23(SORT)). On the other hand, it was reported that TIM23 and PAM are permanently associated in a single-entity translocase. We have accumulated distinct transport intermediates of preproteins to analyze the translocases in their active, preprotein-carrying state. We identified two different forms of active TOM-TIM23 supercomplexes, TOM-TIM23(SORT) and TOM-TIM23-PAM. These two supercomplexes do not represent separate pathways but are in dynamic exchange during preprotein translocation and sorting. Depending on the signals of the preproteins, switches between the different forms of supercomplex and TIM23 are required for the completion of preprotein import.

A visual ergonomics intervention in mail sorting facilities: effects on eyes, muscles and productivity.

Science.gov (United States)

Hemphälä, Hillevi; Eklund, Jörgen

2012-01-01

Visual requirements are high when sorting mail. The purpose of this visual ergonomics intervention study was to evaluate the visual environment in mail sorting facilities and to explore opportunities for improving the work situation by reducing visual strain, improving the visual work environment and reducing mail sorting time. Twenty-seven postmen/women participated in a pre-intervention study, which included questionnaires on their experiences of light, visual ergonomics, health, and musculoskeletal symptoms. Measurements of lighting conditions and productivity were also performed along with eye examinations of the postmen/women. The results from the pre-intervention study showed that the postmen/women who suffered from eyestrain had a higher prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders (MSD) and sorted slower, than those without eyestrain. Illuminance and illuminance uniformity improved as a result of the intervention. The two post-intervention follow-ups showed a higher prevalence of MSD among the postmen/women with eyestrain than among those without. The previous differences in sorting time for employees with and without eyestrain disappeared. After the intervention, the postmen/women felt better in general, experienced less work induced stress, and considered that the total general lighting had improved. The most pronounced decreases in eyestrain, MSD, and mail sorting time were seen among the younger participants of the group. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd and The Ergonomics Society. All rights reserved.

Order-sorted Algebraic Specifications with Higher-order Functions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Haxthausen, Anne Elisabeth

1995-01-01

This paper gives a proposal for how order-sorted algebraic specification languages can be extended with higher-order functions. The approach taken is a generalisation to the order-sorted case of an approach given by Mller, Tarlecki and Wirsing for the many-sorted case. The main idea in the proposal...

MANNER OF STOCKS SORTING USING CLUSTER ANALYSIS METHODS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jana Halčinová

2014-06-01

Full Text Available The aim of the present article is to show the possibility of using the methods of cluster analysis in classification of stocks of finished products. Cluster analysis creates groups (clusters of finished products according to similarity in demand i.e. customer requirements for each product. Manner stocks sorting of finished products by clusters is described a practical example. The resultants clusters are incorporated into the draft layout of the distribution warehouse.

Sorting and sustaining cooperation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Vikander, Nick

2013-01-01

This paper looks at cooperation in teams where some people are selfish and others are conditional cooperators, and where lay-offs will occur at a fixed future date. I show that the best way to sustain cooperation prior to the lay-offs is often in a sorting equilibrium, where conditional cooperators...... can identify and then work with one another. Changes to parameters that would seem to make cooperation more attractive, such as an increase in the discount factor or the fraction of conditional cooperators, can reduce equilibrium cooperation if they decrease a selfish player's incentive to sort....

A real time sorting algorithm to time sort any deterministic time disordered data stream

Science.gov (United States)

Saini, J.; Mandal, S.; Chakrabarti, A.; Chattopadhyay, S.

2017-12-01

In new generation high intensity high energy physics experiments, millions of free streaming high rate data sources are to be readout. Free streaming data with associated time-stamp can only be controlled by thresholds as there is no trigger information available for the readout. Therefore, these readouts are prone to collect large amount of noise and unwanted data. For this reason, these experiments can have output data rate of several orders of magnitude higher than the useful signal data rate. It is therefore necessary to perform online processing of the data to extract useful information from the full data set. Without trigger information, pre-processing on the free streaming data can only be done with time based correlation among the data set. Multiple data sources have different path delays and bandwidth utilizations and therefore the unsorted merged data requires significant computational efforts for real time manifestation of sorting before analysis. Present work reports a new high speed scalable data stream sorting algorithm with its architectural design, verified through Field programmable Gate Array (FPGA) based hardware simulation. Realistic time based simulated data likely to be collected in an high energy physics experiment have been used to study the performance of the algorithm. The proposed algorithm uses parallel read-write blocks with added memory management and zero suppression features to make it efficient for high rate data-streams. This algorithm is best suited for online data streams with deterministic time disorder/unsorting on FPGA like hardware.

The solution space of sorting by DCJ.

Science.gov (United States)

Braga, Marília D V; Stoye, Jens

2010-09-01

In genome rearrangements, the double cut and join (DCJ) operation, introduced by Yancopoulos et al. in 2005, allows one to represent most rearrangement events that could happen in multichromosomal genomes, such as inversions, translocations, fusions, and fissions. No restriction on the genome structure considering linear and circular chromosomes is imposed. An advantage of this general model is that it leads to considerable algorithmic simplifications compared to other genome rearrangement models. Recently, several works concerning the DCJ operation have been published, and in particular, an algorithm was proposed to find an optimal DCJ sequence for sorting one genome into another one. Here we study the solution space of this problem and give an easy-to-compute formula that corresponds to the exact number of optimal DCJ sorting sequences for a particular subset of instances of the problem. We also give an algorithm to count the number of optimal sorting sequences for any instance of the problem. Another interesting result is the demonstration of the possibility of obtaining one optimal sorting sequence by properly replacing any pair of consecutive operations in another optimal sequence. As a consequence, any optimal sorting sequence can be obtained from one other by applying such replacements successively, but the problem of finding the shortest number of replacements between two sorting sequences is still open.

Particle Transport and Size Sorting in Bubble Microstreaming Flow

Science.gov (United States)

Thameem, Raqeeb; Rallabandi, Bhargav; Wang, Cheng; Hilgenfeldt, Sascha

2014-11-01

Ultrasonic driving of sessile semicylindrical bubbles results in powerful steady streaming flows that are robust over a wide range of driving frequencies. In a microchannel, this flow field pattern can be fine-tuned to achieve size-sensitive sorting and trapping of particles at scales much smaller than the bubble itself; the sorting mechanism has been successfully described based on simple geometrical considerations. We investigate the sorting process in more detail, both experimentally (using new parameter variations that allow greater control over the sorting) and theoretically (incorporating the device geometry as well as the superimposed channel flow into an asymptotic theory). This results in optimized criteria for size sorting and a theoretical description that closely matches the particle behavior close to the bubble, the crucial region for size sorting.

Pulsed laser activated cell sorter (PLACS) for high-throughput fluorescent mammalian cell sorting

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Yue; Wu, Ting-Hsiang; Chung, Aram; Kung, Yu-Chung; Teitell, Michael A.; Di Carlo, Dino; Chiou, Pei-Yu

2014-09-01

We present a Pulsed Laser Activated Cell Sorter (PLACS) realized by exciting laser induced cavitation bubbles in a PDMS microfluidic channel to create high speed liquid jets to deflect detected fluorescent samples for high speed sorting. Pulse laser triggered cavitation bubbles can expand in few microseconds and provide a pressure higher than tens of MPa for fluid perturbation near the focused spot. This ultrafast switching mechanism has a complete on-off cycle less than 20 μsec. Two approaches have been utilized to achieve 3D sample focusing in PLACS. One is relying on multilayer PDMS channels to provide 3D hydrodynamic sheath flows. It offers accurate timing control of fast (2 m sec-1) passing particles so that synchronization with laser bubble excitation is possible, an critically important factor for high purity and high throughput sorting. PLACS with 3D hydrodynamic focusing is capable of sorting at 11,000 cells/sec with >95% purity, and 45,000 cells/sec with 45% purity using a single channel in a single step. We have also demonstrated 3D focusing using inertial flows in PLACS. This sheathless focusing approach requires 10 times lower initial cell concentration than that in sheath-based focusing and avoids severe sample dilution from high volume sheath flows. Inertia PLACS is capable of sorting at 10,000 particles sec-1 with >90% sort purity.

Lithography requirements in complex VLSI device fabrication

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wilson, A.D.

1985-01-01

Fabrication of complex very large scale integration (VLSI) circuits requires continual advances in lithography to satisfy: decreasing minimum linewidths, larger chip sizes, tighter linewidth and overlay control, increasing topography to linewidth ratios, higher yield demands, increased throughput, harsher device processing, lower lithography cost, and a larger part number set with quick turn-around time. Where optical, electron beam, x-ray, and ion beam lithography can be applied to judiciously satisfy the complex VLSI circuit fabrication requirements is discussed and those areas that are in need of major further advances are addressed. Emphasis will be placed on advanced electron beam and storage ring x-ray lithography

The Q sort theory and technique.

Science.gov (United States)

Nyatanga, L

1989-10-01

This paper is based on the author's experience of using the Q sort technique with BA Social Sciences (BASS) students, and the community psychiatric nursing (CPN, ENB No 811 course). The paper focuses on two main issues: 1. The theoretical assumptions underpinning the Q Sort technique. Carl Rogers' self theory and some of the values of humanistic psychology are summarised. 2. The actual technique procedure and meaning of results are highlighted. As the Q Sort technique is potentially useful in a variety of sittings some of which are listed in this paper, the emphasis has deliberately been placed in understanding the theoretical underpinning and the operationalisation (sensitive interpretation) of the theory to practice.

Fast sorting measurement technique to determine decontamination priority

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Distenfeld, C.H.; Brosey, B.; Igarashi, H.

1986-01-01

The method used to select decontamination priorities for the Three Mile Island Unit 2 (TMI-2) reactor building (RB) is systematic, but costs in personnel exposure and time must be borne. One way of minimizing exposure is to define and treat the one or two surface sources that are important contributors to the collective dose of the recovery personnel. Surface characteristics can then be determined and decontamination techniques developed to match the removal requirements. At TMI-2, a fast sorting technique was developed and used to prioritize surfaces for exposure reduction. A second quick sort can then be used to determine the next generation of surface characterization, decontamination method selection, and performance. The quick-sort method that was developed is based on the Eberline HP 220A probes directional survey system. The angular response of the HP 220A probes approaches 2 pi steradians and allows toward-away type measurements. Sources distributed over 4 pi steradians are hard to define with this system. Angular differentiation was improved to about pi/2 steradians by redesigning the probe shield. The change allows unambiguous six-direction measurements, such as up, down, front, rear, right, and left with practically no angular overlap or exclusion. A simple, light-weight stand was used to establish an angular reference for the rectangular packaged probe. The six surface planes of the rectangle work with the angular reference to establish the six viewing angles

The Arabidopsis Vacuolar Sorting Receptor1 Is Required for Osmotic Stress-Induced Abscisic Acid Biosynthesis

KAUST Repository

Wang, Zhen-Yu; Gehring, Christoph A; Zhu, Jianhua; Li, Feng-Min; Zhu, Jian-Kang; Xiong, Liming

2014-01-01

Osmotic stress activates the biosynthesis of the phytohormone abscisic acid (ABA) through a pathway that is rate limited by the carotenoid cleavage enzyme 9-cis-epoxycarotenoid dioxygenase (NCED). To understand the signal transduction mechanism underlying the activation of ABA biosynthesis, we performed a forward genetic screen to isolate mutants defective in osmotic stress regulation of the NCED3 gene. Here, we identified the Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) Vacuolar Sorting Receptor1 (VSR1) as a unique regulator of ABA biosynthesis. The vsr1 mutant not only shows increased sensitivity to osmotic stress, but also is defective in the feedback regulation of ABA biosynthesis by ABA. Further analysis revealed that vacuolar trafficking mediated by VSR1 is required for osmotic stress-responsive ABA biosynthesis and osmotic stress tolerance. Moreover, under osmotic stress conditions, the membrane potential, calcium flux, and vacuolar pH changes in the vsr1 mutant differ from those in the wild type. Given that manipulation of the intracellular pH is sufficient to modulate the expression of ABA biosynthesis genes, including NCED3, and ABA accumulation, we propose that intracellular pH changes caused by osmotic stress may play a signaling role in regulating ABA biosynthesis and that this regulation is dependent on functional VSR1.

The Arabidopsis Vacuolar Sorting Receptor1 Is Required for Osmotic Stress-Induced Abscisic Acid Biosynthesis

KAUST Repository

Wang, Zhen-Yu

2014-11-21

Osmotic stress activates the biosynthesis of the phytohormone abscisic acid (ABA) through a pathway that is rate limited by the carotenoid cleavage enzyme 9-cis-epoxycarotenoid dioxygenase (NCED). To understand the signal transduction mechanism underlying the activation of ABA biosynthesis, we performed a forward genetic screen to isolate mutants defective in osmotic stress regulation of the NCED3 gene. Here, we identified the Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) Vacuolar Sorting Receptor1 (VSR1) as a unique regulator of ABA biosynthesis. The vsr1 mutant not only shows increased sensitivity to osmotic stress, but also is defective in the feedback regulation of ABA biosynthesis by ABA. Further analysis revealed that vacuolar trafficking mediated by VSR1 is required for osmotic stress-responsive ABA biosynthesis and osmotic stress tolerance. Moreover, under osmotic stress conditions, the membrane potential, calcium flux, and vacuolar pH changes in the vsr1 mutant differ from those in the wild type. Given that manipulation of the intracellular pH is sufficient to modulate the expression of ABA biosynthesis genes, including NCED3, and ABA accumulation, we propose that intracellular pH changes caused by osmotic stress may play a signaling role in regulating ABA biosynthesis and that this regulation is dependent on functional VSR1.

IAP-Based Cell Sorting Results in Homogeneous Transplantable Dopaminergic Precursor Cells Derived from Human Pluripotent Stem Cells

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daniela Lehnen

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Human pluripotent stem cell (hPSC-derived mesencephalic dopaminergic (mesDA neurons can relieve motor deficits in animal models of Parkinson's disease (PD. Clinical translation of differentiation protocols requires standardization of production procedures, and surface-marker-based cell sorting is considered instrumental for reproducible generation of defined cell products. Here, we demonstrate that integrin-associated protein (IAP is a cell surface marker suitable for enrichment of hPSC-derived mesDA progenitor cells. Immunomagnetically sorted IAP+ mesDA progenitors showed increased expression of ventral midbrain floor plate markers, lacked expression of pluripotency markers, and differentiated into mature dopaminergic (DA neurons in vitro. Intrastriatal transplantation of IAP+ cells sorted at day 16 of differentiation in a rat model of PD resulted in functional recovery. Grafts from sorted IAP+ mesDA progenitors were more homogeneous in size and DA neuron density. Thus, we suggest IAP-based sorting for reproducible prospective enrichment of mesDA progenitor cells in clinical cell replacement strategies.

Event shape sorting

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kopecna, Renata; Tomasik, Boris

2016-01-01

We propose a novel method for sorting events of multiparticle production according to the azimuthal anisotropy of their momentum distribution. Although the method is quite general, we advocate its use in analysis of ultra-relativistic heavy-ion collisions where a large number of hadrons is produced. The advantage of our method is that it can automatically sort out samples of events with histograms that indicate similar distributions of hadrons. It takes into account the whole measured histograms with all orders of anisotropy instead of a specific observable (e.g., v 2 , v 3 , q 2 ). It can be used for more exclusive experimental studies of flow anisotropies which are then more easily compared to theoretical calculations. It may also be useful in the construction of mixed-events background for correlation studies as it allows to select events with similar momentum distribution. (orig.)

New MMC capacitor voltage balancing using sorting-less strategy in nearest level control

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ricco, Mattia; Máthé, Lászlo; Teodorescu, Remus

2016-01-01

This paper proposes a new strategy for balancing the Capacitor Voltages (CVs) for Modular Multilevel Converters (MMCs). The balancing is one of the main challenges in MMC applications and it is usually solved by adopting a global arm control approach. For performing such an approach, a sorted list...... of the SubModules (SMs) according to their capacitor voltages is required. A common way to accomplish this task is to implement a sorting algorithm in the same controller used for the modulation technique. However, the execution time and the computational efforts of these kinds of algorithms increase very...

Development of sorting system control using LABVIEW

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Azraf Azman; Mohd Arif Hamzah; Noriah Mod Ali; John Konsoh; Mohd Idris Taib; Maslina Mohd Ibrahim; Nor Arymaswati Abdullah; Abu Bakar Mhd Ghazali

2005-01-01

The development of the Personnel Dosimeter Sorting System, proposed by the Secondary Standard Dosimetry Laboratory (SSDL) is to enhance the system or work flow in preparing the personnel dosimeter. The main objective of the system is to reduce stamping error, time and cost. The Personnel Dosimeter Sorting System is a semi-automatic system with an interfacing method using the Advantec 32 bit PCI interface card of 64 digital input and output. The system is integrated with the Labview version 7.1 programming language to control the sorting system and operation. (Author)

Dissecting large and complex genomes: flow sorting and BAC cloning of individual chromosomes from bread wheat

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Šafář, Jan; Bartoš, Jan; Janda, Jaroslav; Bellec, A.; Kubaláková, Marie; Valárik, Miroslav; Pateyron, S.; Weiserová, Jitka; Tušková, Radka; Čihalíková, Jarmila; Vrána, Jan; Šimková, Hana; Faivre-Rampant, P.; Sourdille, P.; Caboche, M.; Bernard, M.; Doležel, Jaroslav; Chalhoub, B.

2004-01-01

Roč. 39, - (2004), s. 960-968 ISSN 0960-7412 R&D Projects: GA ČR GA522/03/0354; GA ČR GA521/04/0607; GA MZe QC1336 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z5038910 Keywords : wheat * flow sorting * DNA library Subject RIV: EB - Genetics ; Molecular Biology Impact factor: 6.367, year: 2004

Cloning of Plasmodium falciparum by single-cell sorting.

Science.gov (United States)

Miao, Jun; Li, Xiaolian; Cui, Liwang

2010-10-01

Malaria parasite cloning is traditionally carried out mainly by using the limiting dilution method, which is laborious, imprecise, and unable to distinguish multiply-infected RBCs. In this study, we used a parasite engineered to express green fluorescent protein (GFP) to evaluate a single-cell sorting method for rapidly cloning Plasmodium falciparum. By dividing a two-dimensional scattergram from a cell sorter into 17 gates, we determined the parameters for isolating singly-infected erythrocytes and sorted them into individual cultures. Pre-gating of the engineered parasites for GFP allowed the isolation of almost 100% GFP-positive clones. Compared with the limiting dilution method, the number of parasite clones obtained by single-cell sorting was much higher. Molecular analyses showed that parasite isolates obtained by single-cell sorting were highly homogenous. This highly efficient single-cell sorting method should prove very useful for cloning both P. falciparum laboratory populations from genetic manipulation experiments and clinical samples. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Cloning of Plasmodium falciparum by single-cell sorting

Science.gov (United States)

Miao, Jun; Li, Xiaolian; Cui, Liwang

2010-01-01

Malaria parasite cloning is traditionally carried out mainly by using the limiting dilution method, which is laborious, imprecise, and unable to distinguish multiply-infected RBCs. In this study, we used a parasite engineered to express green fluorescent protein (GFP) to evaluate a single-cell sorting method for rapidly cloning Plasmodium falciparum. By dividing a two dimensional scattergram from a cell sorter into 17 gates, we determined the parameters for isolating singly-infected erythrocytes and sorted them into individual cultures. Pre-gating of the engineered parasites for GFP allowed the isolation of almost 100% GFP-positive clones. Compared with the limiting dilution method, the number of parasite clones obtained by single-cell sorting was much higher. Molecular analyses showed that parasite isolates obtained by single-cell sorting were highly homogenous. This highly efficient single-cell sorting method should prove very useful for cloning both P. falciparum laboratory populations from genetic manipulation experiments and clinical samples. PMID:20435038

Measurement, sorting and tuning of LCLS undulator magnets

CERN Document Server

Vasserman, I B; Dejus, Roger J; Moog, E; Trakhtenberg, E; Vinokurov, N A

2002-01-01

Currently, a Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) prototype undulator is under construction. The prototype is a 3.4-m-long hybrid-type undulator with fixed gap of 6 mm. The period length is 30 mm and the number of poles is 226. For this undulator, 450 NdFeB magnet blocks are used. This project does not have demanding requirements for multipole component errors, but the field strength at x=0 should be as precise as possible to provide proper particle steering and phase errors. The first set of magnetic blocks has been measured. The strength and direction of magnetization of the magnet blocks are measured using a Helmholtz coil system. In addition to this, Hall probe measurements are performed for magnet blocks while they are mounted in a specially designed cassette with vanadium-permendur poles. The magnet blocks will be sorted using these data to minimize errors. Computer simulations show that magnets may be sorted in decreasing strengths with little or no additional tuning of the undulators.

Passive sorting of capsules by deformability

Science.gov (United States)

Haener, Edgar; Juel, Anne

We study passive sorting according to deformability of liquid-filled ovalbumin-alginate capsules. We present results for two sorting geometries: a straight channel with a half-cylindrical obstruction and a pinched flow fractioning device (PFF) adapted for use with capsules. In the half-cylinder device, the capsules deform as they encounter the obstruction, and travel around the half-cylinder. The distance from the capsule's centre of mass to the surface of the half-cylinder depends on deformability, and separation between capsules of different deformability is amplified by diverging streamlines in the channel expansion downstream of the obstruction. We show experimentally that capsules can be sorted according to deformability with their downstream position depending on capillary number only, and we establish the sensitivity of the device to experimental variability. In the PFF device, particles are compressed against a wall using a strong pinching flow. We show that capsule deformation increases with the intensity of the pinching flow, but that the downstream capsule position is not set by deformation in the device. However, when using the PFF device like a T-Junction, we achieve improved sorting resolution compared to the half-cylinder device.

On Sorting Genomes with DCJ and Indels

Science.gov (United States)

Braga, Marília D. V.

A previous work of Braga, Willing and Stoye compared two genomes with unequal content, but without duplications, and presented a new linear time algorithm to compute the genomic distance, considering double cut and join (DCJ) operations, insertions and deletions. Here we derive from this approach an algorithm to sort one genome into another one also using DCJ, insertions and deletions. The optimal sorting scenarios can have different compositions and we compare two types of sorting scenarios: one that maximizes and one that minimizes the number of DCJ operations with respect to the number of insertions and deletions.

State analysis requirements database for engineering complex embedded systems

Science.gov (United States)

Bennett, Matthew B.; Rasmussen, Robert D.; Ingham, Michel D.

2004-01-01

It has become clear that spacecraft system complexity is reaching a threshold where customary methods of control are no longer affordable or sufficiently reliable. At the heart of this problem are the conventional approaches to systems and software engineering based on subsystem-level functional decomposition, which fail to scale in the tangled web of interactions typically encountered in complex spacecraft designs. Furthermore, there is a fundamental gap between the requirements on software specified by systems engineers and the implementation of these requirements by software engineers. Software engineers must perform the translation of requirements into software code, hoping to accurately capture the systems engineer's understanding of the system behavior, which is not always explicitly specified. This gap opens up the possibility for misinterpretation of the systems engineer's intent, potentially leading to software errors. This problem is addressed by a systems engineering tool called the State Analysis Database, which provides a tool for capturing system and software requirements in the form of explicit models. This paper describes how requirements for complex aerospace systems can be developed using the State Analysis Database.

Spike sorting using locality preserving projection with gap statistics and landmark-based spectral clustering.

Science.gov (United States)

Nguyen, Thanh; Khosravi, Abbas; Creighton, Douglas; Nahavandi, Saeid

2014-12-30

Understanding neural functions requires knowledge from analysing electrophysiological data. The process of assigning spikes of a multichannel signal into clusters, called spike sorting, is one of the important problems in such analysis. There have been various automated spike sorting techniques with both advantages and disadvantages regarding accuracy and computational costs. Therefore, developing spike sorting methods that are highly accurate and computationally inexpensive is always a challenge in the biomedical engineering practice. An automatic unsupervised spike sorting method is proposed in this paper. The method uses features extracted by the locality preserving projection (LPP) algorithm. These features afterwards serve as inputs for the landmark-based spectral clustering (LSC) method. Gap statistics (GS) is employed to evaluate the number of clusters before the LSC can be performed. The proposed LPP-LSC is highly accurate and computationally inexpensive spike sorting approach. LPP spike features are very discriminative; thereby boost the performance of clustering methods. Furthermore, the LSC method exhibits its efficiency when integrated with the cluster evaluator GS. The proposed method's accuracy is approximately 13% superior to that of the benchmark combination between wavelet transformation and superparamagnetic clustering (WT-SPC). Additionally, LPP-LSC computing time is six times less than that of the WT-SPC. LPP-LSC obviously demonstrates a win-win spike sorting solution meeting both accuracy and computational cost criteria. LPP and LSC are linear algorithms that help reduce computational burden and thus their combination can be applied into real-time spike analysis. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Spiking Neural Networks Based on OxRAM Synapses for Real-Time Unsupervised Spike Sorting.

Science.gov (United States)

Werner, Thilo; Vianello, Elisa; Bichler, Olivier; Garbin, Daniele; Cattaert, Daniel; Yvert, Blaise; De Salvo, Barbara; Perniola, Luca

2016-01-01

In this paper, we present an alternative approach to perform spike sorting of complex brain signals based on spiking neural networks (SNN). The proposed architecture is suitable for hardware implementation by using resistive random access memory (RRAM) technology for the implementation of synapses whose low latency (spike sorting. This offers promising advantages to conventional spike sorting techniques for brain-computer interfaces (BCI) and neural prosthesis applications. Moreover, the ultra-low power consumption of the RRAM synapses of the spiking neural network (nW range) may enable the design of autonomous implantable devices for rehabilitation purposes. We demonstrate an original methodology to use Oxide based RRAM (OxRAM) as easy to program and low energy (Spike Timing Dependent Plasticity. Real spiking data have been recorded both intra- and extracellularly from an in-vitro preparation of the Crayfish sensory-motor system and used for validation of the proposed OxRAM based SNN. This artificial SNN is able to identify, learn, recognize and distinguish between different spike shapes in the input signal with a recognition rate about 90% without any supervision.

Magnethophoretic sorting of fluid catalytic cracking particles

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Solsona, Miguel; Nieuwelink, A. E.; Odijk, Mathieu; Meirer, Florian; Abelmann, Leon; Olthuis, Wouter; Weckhuysen, Bert M.; van den Berg, Albert; Lee, Abraham; DeVoe, Don

2017-01-01

We demonstrate an on-chip particle activity sorter, focused on iron concentration and based on magnetophoresis. This device was used for fast sorting of stepwise homogenously distributed [Fe]s. The preliminary results are very encouraging. We show that we can sort particles on magnetic moment, with

Performance evaluation of PCA-based spike sorting algorithms.

Science.gov (United States)

Adamos, Dimitrios A; Kosmidis, Efstratios K; Theophilidis, George

2008-09-01

Deciphering the electrical activity of individual neurons from multi-unit noisy recordings is critical for understanding complex neural systems. A widely used spike sorting algorithm is being evaluated for single-electrode nerve trunk recordings. The algorithm is based on principal component analysis (PCA) for spike feature extraction. In the neuroscience literature it is generally assumed that the use of the first two or most commonly three principal components is sufficient. We estimate the optimum PCA-based feature space by evaluating the algorithm's performance on simulated series of action potentials. A number of modifications are made to the open source nev2lkit software to enable systematic investigation of the parameter space. We introduce a new metric to define clustering error considering over-clustering more favorable than under-clustering as proposed by experimentalists for our data. Both the program patch and the metric are available online. Correlated and white Gaussian noise processes are superimposed to account for biological and artificial jitter in the recordings. We report that the employment of more than three principal components is in general beneficial for all noise cases considered. Finally, we apply our results to experimental data and verify that the sorting process with four principal components is in agreement with a panel of electrophysiology experts.

Sorting Tubules Regulate Blood-Brain Barrier Transcytosis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Roberto Villaseñor

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Transcytosis across the blood-brain barrier (BBB regulates key processes of the brain, but the intracellular sorting mechanisms that determine successful receptor-mediated transcytosis in brain endothelial cells (BECs remain unidentified. Here, we used Transferrin receptor-based Brain Shuttle constructs to investigate intracellular transport in BECs, and we uncovered a pathway for the regulation of receptor-mediated transcytosis. By combining live-cell imaging and mathematical modeling in vitro with super-resolution microscopy of the BBB, we show that intracellular tubules promote transcytosis across the BBB. A monovalent construct (sFab sorted for transcytosis was localized to intracellular tubules, whereas a bivalent construct (dFab sorted for degradation formed clusters with impaired transport along tubules. Manipulating tubule biogenesis by overexpressing the small GTPase Rab17 increased dFab transport into tubules and induced its transcytosis in BECs. We propose that sorting tubules regulate transcytosis in BECs and may be a general mechanism for receptor-mediated transport across the BBB.

Intracellular transport and sorting of mutant human proinsulins that fail to form hexamers.

Science.gov (United States)

Quinn, D; Orci, L; Ravazzola, M; Moore, H P

1991-06-01

Human proinsulin and insulin oligomerize to form dimers and hexamers. It has been suggested that the ability of prohormones to self associate and form aggregates may be responsible for the sorting process at the trans-Golgi. To examine whether insulin oligomerization is required for proper sorting into regulated storage granules, we have constructed point mutations in human insulin B chain that have been previously shown to prevent formation of insulin hexamers (Brange, J., U. Ribel, J. F. Hansen, G. Dodson, M. T. Hansen, S. Havelund, S. G. Melberg, F. Norris, K. Norris, L. Snel, A. R. Sorensen, and H. O. Voight. 1988. Nature [Lond.]. 333:679-682). One mutant (B10His----Asp) allows formation of dimers but not hexamers and the other (B9Ser----Asp) prevents formation of both dimers and hexamers. The mutants were transfected into the mouse pituitary AtT-20 cells, and their ability to be sorted into regulated secretory granules was compared to wild-type insulin. We found that while B10His----Asp is sorted somewhat less efficiently than wild-type insulin as reported previously (Carroll, R. J., R. E. Hammer, S. J. Chan, H. H. Swift, A. H. Rubenstein, and D. F. Steiner. 1988. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 85:8943-8947; Gross, D. J., P. A. Halban, C. R. Kahn, G. C. Weir, and L. Villa-Kumaroff. 1989. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 86:4107-4111). B9Ser----Asp is targeted to granules as efficiently as wild-type insulin. These results indicate that self association of proinsulin into hexamers is not required for its targeting to the regulated secretory pathway.

A many-sorted calculus based on resolution and paramodulation

CERN Document Server

Walther, Christoph

1987-01-01

A Many-Sorted Calculus Based on Resolution and Paramodulation emphasizes the utilization of advantages and concepts of many-sorted logic for resolution and paramodulation based automated theorem proving.This book considers some first-order calculus that defines how theorems from given hypotheses by pure syntactic reasoning are obtained, shifting all the semantic and implicit argumentation to the syntactic and explicit level of formal first-order reasoning. This text discusses the efficiency of many-sorted reasoning, formal preliminaries for the RP- and ?RP-calculus, and many-sorted term rewrit

IB-LBM simulation on blood cell sorting with a micro-fence structure.

Science.gov (United States)

Wei, Qiang; Xu, Yuan-Qing; Tian, Fang-bao; Gao, Tian-xin; Tang, Xiao-ying; Zu, Wen-Hong

2014-01-01

A size-based blood cell sorting model with a micro-fence structure is proposed in the frame of immersed boundary and lattice Boltzmann method (IB-LBM). The fluid dynamics is obtained by solving the discrete lattice Boltzmann equation, and the cells motion and deformation are handled by the immersed boundary method. A micro-fence consists of two parallel slope post rows which are adopted to separate red blood cells (RBCs) from white blood cells (WBCs), in which the cells to be separated are transported one after another by the flow into the passageway between the two post rows. Effected by the cross flow, RBCs are schemed to get through the pores of the nether post row since they are smaller and more deformable compared with WBCs. WBCs are required to move along the nether post row till they get out the micro-fence. Simulation results indicate that for a fix width of pores, the slope angle of the post row plays an important role in cell sorting. The cells mixture can not be separated properly in a small slope angle, while obvious blockages by WBCs will take place to disturb the continuous cell sorting in a big slope angle. As an optimal result, an adaptive slope angle is found to sort RBCs form WBCs correctly and continuously.

IAP-Based Cell Sorting Results in Homogeneous Transplantable Dopaminergic Precursor Cells Derived from Human Pluripotent Stem Cells.

Science.gov (United States)

Lehnen, Daniela; Barral, Serena; Cardoso, Tiago; Grealish, Shane; Heuer, Andreas; Smiyakin, Andrej; Kirkeby, Agnete; Kollet, Jutta; Cremer, Harold; Parmar, Malin; Bosio, Andreas; Knöbel, Sebastian

2017-10-10

Human pluripotent stem cell (hPSC)-derived mesencephalic dopaminergic (mesDA) neurons can relieve motor deficits in animal models of Parkinson's disease (PD). Clinical translation of differentiation protocols requires standardization of production procedures, and surface-marker-based cell sorting is considered instrumental for reproducible generation of defined cell products. Here, we demonstrate that integrin-associated protein (IAP) is a cell surface marker suitable for enrichment of hPSC-derived mesDA progenitor cells. Immunomagnetically sorted IAP + mesDA progenitors showed increased expression of ventral midbrain floor plate markers, lacked expression of pluripotency markers, and differentiated into mature dopaminergic (DA) neurons in vitro. Intrastriatal transplantation of IAP + cells sorted at day 16 of differentiation in a rat model of PD resulted in functional recovery. Grafts from sorted IAP + mesDA progenitors were more homogeneous in size and DA neuron density. Thus, we suggest IAP-based sorting for reproducible prospective enrichment of mesDA progenitor cells in clinical cell replacement strategies. Copyright © 2017 Miltenyi Biotec GmbH. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Automatic online spike sorting with singular value decomposition and fuzzy C-mean clustering

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Oliynyk Andriy

2012-08-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Understanding how neurons contribute to perception, motor functions and cognition requires the reliable detection of spiking activity of individual neurons during a number of different experimental conditions. An important problem in computational neuroscience is thus to develop algorithms to automatically detect and sort the spiking activity of individual neurons from extracellular recordings. While many algorithms for spike sorting exist, the problem of accurate and fast online sorting still remains a challenging issue. Results Here we present a novel software tool, called FSPS (Fuzzy SPike Sorting, which is designed to optimize: (i fast and accurate detection, (ii offline sorting and (iii online classification of neuronal spikes with very limited or null human intervention. The method is based on a combination of Singular Value Decomposition for fast and highly accurate pre-processing of spike shapes, unsupervised Fuzzy C-mean, high-resolution alignment of extracted spike waveforms, optimal selection of the number of features to retain, automatic identification the number of clusters, and quantitative quality assessment of resulting clusters independent on their size. After being trained on a short testing data stream, the method can reliably perform supervised online classification and monitoring of single neuron activity. The generalized procedure has been implemented in our FSPS spike sorting software (available free for non-commercial academic applications at the address: http://www.spikesorting.com using LabVIEW (National Instruments, USA. We evaluated the performance of our algorithm both on benchmark simulated datasets with different levels of background noise and on real extracellular recordings from premotor cortex of Macaque monkeys. The results of these tests showed an excellent accuracy in discriminating low-amplitude and overlapping spikes under strong background noise. The performance of our method is

Automatic online spike sorting with singular value decomposition and fuzzy C-mean clustering.

Science.gov (United States)

Oliynyk, Andriy; Bonifazzi, Claudio; Montani, Fernando; Fadiga, Luciano

2012-08-08

Understanding how neurons contribute to perception, motor functions and cognition requires the reliable detection of spiking activity of individual neurons during a number of different experimental conditions. An important problem in computational neuroscience is thus to develop algorithms to automatically detect and sort the spiking activity of individual neurons from extracellular recordings. While many algorithms for spike sorting exist, the problem of accurate and fast online sorting still remains a challenging issue. Here we present a novel software tool, called FSPS (Fuzzy SPike Sorting), which is designed to optimize: (i) fast and accurate detection, (ii) offline sorting and (iii) online classification of neuronal spikes with very limited or null human intervention. The method is based on a combination of Singular Value Decomposition for fast and highly accurate pre-processing of spike shapes, unsupervised Fuzzy C-mean, high-resolution alignment of extracted spike waveforms, optimal selection of the number of features to retain, automatic identification the number of clusters, and quantitative quality assessment of resulting clusters independent on their size. After being trained on a short testing data stream, the method can reliably perform supervised online classification and monitoring of single neuron activity. The generalized procedure has been implemented in our FSPS spike sorting software (available free for non-commercial academic applications at the address: http://www.spikesorting.com) using LabVIEW (National Instruments, USA). We evaluated the performance of our algorithm both on benchmark simulated datasets with different levels of background noise and on real extracellular recordings from premotor cortex of Macaque monkeys. The results of these tests showed an excellent accuracy in discriminating low-amplitude and overlapping spikes under strong background noise. The performance of our method is competitive with respect to other robust spike

Science and technology of kernels and TRISO coated particle sorting

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nothnagel, G.

2006-09-01

The ~1mm diameter TRISO coated particles, which form the elemental units of PBMR nuclear fuel, has to be close to spherical in order to best survive damage during sphere pressing. Spherical silicon carbide layers further provide the strongest miniature pressure vessels for fission product retention. To make sure that the final product contains particles of acceptable shape, 100% of kernels and coated particles have to be sorted on a surface-ground sorting table. Broken particles, twins, irregular (odd) shapes and extreme ellipsoids have to be separated from the final kernel and coated particle batches. Proper sorting of particles is an extremely important step in quality fuel production as the final failure fraction depends sensitively on the quality of sorting. After sorting a statistically significant sample of the sorted product is analysed for sphericity, which is defined as the ratio of maximum to minimum diameter, as part of a standard QC test to ensure conformance to German specifications. In addition a burn-leach test is done on coated particles (before pressing) and fuel spheres (after pressing) to ensure adherence to failure specifications. Because of the extreme importance of particle sorting for assurance of fuel quality it is essential to have an in-depth understanding of the capabilities and limitations of particle sorting. In this report a systematic scientific rationale is developed, from fundamental principles, to provide a basis for understanding the relationship between product quality and sorting parameters. The principles and concepts, developed in this report, will be of importance when future sorting tables (or equivalents) are to be designed. A number of new concepts and methodologies are developed to assist with equivalence validation of any two sorting tables. This is aimed in particular towards quantitative assessment of equivalence between current QC tables (closely based on the original NUKEM parameters, except for the driving mechanism

Heuristic framework for parallel sorting computations | Nwanze ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Parallel sorting techniques have become of practical interest with the advent of new multiprocessor architectures. The decreasing cost of these processors will probably in the future, make the solutions that are derived thereof to be more appealing. Efficient algorithms for sorting scheme that are encountered in a number of ...

Tradeoffs Between Branch Mispredictions and Comparisons for Sorting Algorithms

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Brodal, Gerth Stølting; Moruz, Gabriel

2005-01-01

Branch mispredictions is an important factor affecting the running time in practice. In this paper we consider tradeoffs between the number of branch mispredictions and the number of comparisons for sorting algorithms in the comparison model. We prove that a sorting algorithm using O(dnlog n......) comparisons performs Omega(nlogd n) branch mispredictions. We show that Multiway MergeSort achieves this tradeoff by adopting a multiway merger with a low number of branch mispredictions. For adaptive sorting algorithms we similarly obtain that an algorithm performing O(dn(1+log (1+Inv/n))) comparisons must...... perform Omega(nlogd (1+Inv/n)) branch mispredictions, where Inv is the number of inversions in the input. This tradeoff can be achieved by GenericSort by Estivill-Castro and Wood by adopting a multiway division protocol and a multiway merging algorithm with a low number of branch mispredictions....

Recent progress in multi-electrode spike sorting methods.

Science.gov (United States)

Lefebvre, Baptiste; Yger, Pierre; Marre, Olivier

2016-11-01

In recent years, arrays of extracellular electrodes have been developed and manufactured to record simultaneously from hundreds of electrodes packed with a high density. These recordings should allow neuroscientists to reconstruct the individual activity of the neurons spiking in the vicinity of these electrodes, with the help of signal processing algorithms. Algorithms need to solve a source separation problem, also known as spike sorting. However, these new devices challenge the classical way to do spike sorting. Here we review different methods that have been developed to sort spikes from these large-scale recordings. We describe the common properties of these algorithms, as well as their main differences. Finally, we outline the issues that remain to be solved by future spike sorting algorithms. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Acoustic bubble sorting for ultrasound contrast agent enrichment.

Science.gov (United States)

Segers, Tim; Versluis, Michel

2014-05-21

An ultrasound contrast agent (UCA) suspension contains encapsulated microbubbles with a wide size distribution, with radii ranging from 1 to 10 μm. Medical transducers typically operate at a single frequency, therefore only a small selection of bubbles will resonate to the driving ultrasound pulse. Thus, the sensitivity can be improved by narrowing down the size distribution. Here, we present a simple lab-on-a-chip method to sort the population of microbubbles on-chip using a traveling ultrasound wave. First, we explore the physical parameter space of acoustic bubble sorting using well-defined bubble sizes formed in a flow-focusing device, then we demonstrate successful acoustic sorting of a commercial UCA. This novel sorting strategy may lead to an overall improvement of the sensitivity of contrast ultrasound by more than 10 dB.

Do vouchers lead to sorting under random private-school selection? Evidence from the Milwaukee voucher program

OpenAIRE

Chakrabarti, Rajashri

2009-01-01

This paper analyzes the effect of school vouchers on student sorting - defined as a flight to private schools by high-income and committed public-school students - and whether vouchers can be designed to reduce or eliminate it. Much of the existing literature investigates sorting in cases where private schools can screen students. However, publicly funded U.S. voucher programs require a private school to accept all students unless it is oversubscribed and to pick students randomly if it is ov...

PACMan to Help Sort Hubble Proposals

Science.gov (United States)

Kohler, Susanna

2017-04-01

reviewers: it found that nearly all of the reviewers (92%) asked to serve in the last cycle were appropriate reviewers for the subject area based on their ADS publication record.There are still some hiccups in automating this process for instance, finding the reviewers on ADS can require human intervention due to names not being unique. As the scientific community moves toward persistent and distinguishable identifiers (like ORCIDs), however, this problem will be mitigated.Strolger and collaborators believe that PACMan demonstrates a promising means of increasing the efficiency and impartiality of the HST proposal sorting process. This tool will likely be used to assist or replace humans in this processin future HST and JWST cycles.CitationLouis-Gregory Strolger et al 2017 AJ 153 181. doi:10.3847/1538-3881/aa6112

Automatic Color Sorting of Hardwood Edge-Glued Panel Parts

Science.gov (United States)

D. Earl Kline; Richard Conners; Qiang Lu; Philip A. Araman

1997-01-01

This paper describes an automatic color sorting system for red oak edge-glued panel parts. The color sorting system simultaneously examines both faces of a panel part and then determines which face has the "best" color, and sorts the part into one of a number of color classes at plant production speeds. Initial test results show that the system generated over...

Automorphism group of the modified bubble-sort graph

OpenAIRE

Ganesan, Ashwin

2014-01-01

The modified bubble-sort graph of dimension $n$ is the Cayley graph of $S_n$ generated by $n$ cyclically adjacent transpositions. In the present paper, it is shown that the automorphism group of the modified bubble sort graph of dimension $n$ is $S_n \\times D_{2n}$, for all $n \\ge 5$. Thus, a complete structural description of the automorphism group of the modified bubble-sort graph is obtained. A similar direct product decomposition is seen to hold for arbitrary normal Cayley graphs generate...

Periglacial complexes in Utopia Planitia: rimless, tiered depressions, (clastically) sorted and unsorted polygonised terrain and an ice-rich mantle

Science.gov (United States)

Soare, Richard; Conway, Susan; Gallagher, Colman; Dohm, James; Clifford, Stephen M.; Williams, Jean-pierre

2016-10-01

We report the spatial and possible genetic-relationship at the mid-latitudes of Utopia Planitia (45-500N 115-1200E), Mars, of: (a) metre to decametre deep, rimless, tiered depressions; terrain that exhibits (b) (clastically) sorted and (c) unsorted (small-sized) polygons; and, (d) a very youthful, ice-rich mantle. We show that these individual landscape features are separated stratigraphically, this being presented to the Mars community for the first time, and suggest that the stratigraphical separation of these features could be the result of boundary conditions and formation processes that have varied much more widely than has been thought hitherto. In cold-climate and non-glacial regions such as the Yamal Peninsula of eastern Russia and the Tuktoyaktuk Coastlands of northern Canada, landscape assemblages comprised of similar features are referenced as "ice complexes" and are indicative of periglacialism on two fronts: first, the presence of "ice-rich" permafrost or permafrost comprised of "excess ice", i.e. "permafrost" whose pore space is exceeded by the "water ice" within that body of sediment; and, second, antecedently or currently active freeze-thaw cycling, minimally, to the full depth of the "ice-complex" depressions. In the Dry Valleys of the Antarctic, where the atmospheric aridity and cold-temperatures approach those of Mars, ice-vapour diffusion and adsorption cycles are cited as the means by which the near-surface, permafrost, i.e. ≤1m deep, has become ice-cemented. However, the metre to decametre depths of the "ice-complex" depressions on Earth and the morphologically-similar ones on Mars lie beyond the vertical reach of the Antarctic diffusion and adsorption cycles, both empirically and theoretically. By deduction, this points to the freeze-thaw cycling of water to depth, fostered either by exogenic or endogenic means, perhaps playing a more important role in the formation of the possible Martian "ice complexes" than might be expected were

Tracking heavy water (D₂O) incorporation for identifying and sorting active microbial cells

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Berry, David; Mader, Esther; Lee, Tae Kwon

2015-01-01

Microbial communities are essential to the function of virtually all ecosystems and eukaryotes, including humans. However, it is still a major challenge to identify microbial cells active under natural conditions in complex systems. In this study, we developed a new method to identify and sort ac...

A sorting system with automated gates permits individual operant experiments with mice from a social home cage.

Science.gov (United States)

Winter, York; Schaefers, Andrea T U

2011-03-30

Behavioral experiments based on operant procedures can be time-consuming for small amounts of data. While individual testing and handling of animals can influence attention, emotion, and behavior, and interfere with experimental outcome, many operant protocols require individual testing. We developed an RFID-technology- and transponder-based sorting system that allows removing the human factor for longer-term experiments. Identity detectors and automated gates route mice individually from their social home cage to an adjacent operant compartment with 24/7 operation. CD1-mice learnt quickly to individually pass through the sorting system. At no time did more than a single mouse enter the operant compartment. After 3 days of adjusting to the sorting system, groups of 4 mice completed about 50 experimental trials per day in the operant compartment without experimenter intervention. The automated sorting system eliminates handling, isolation, and disturbance of the animals, eliminates experimenter-induced variability, saves experimenter time, and is financially economical. It makes possible a new approach for high-throughput experimentation, and is a viable tool for increasing quality and efficiency of many behavioral and neurobiological investigations. It can connect a social home cage, through individual sorting automation, to diverse setups including classical operant chambers, mazes, or arenas with video-based behavior classification. Such highly automated systems will permit efficient high-throughput screening even for transgenic animals with only subtle neurological or psychiatric symptoms where elaborate or longer-term protocols are required for behavioral diagnosis. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Sorting signed permutations by short operations.

Science.gov (United States)

Galvão, Gustavo Rodrigues; Lee, Orlando; Dias, Zanoni

2015-01-01

During evolution, global mutations may alter the order and the orientation of the genes in a genome. Such mutations are referred to as rearrangement events, or simply operations. In unichromosomal genomes, the most common operations are reversals, which are responsible for reversing the order and orientation of a sequence of genes, and transpositions, which are responsible for switching the location of two contiguous portions of a genome. The problem of computing the minimum sequence of operations that transforms one genome into another - which is equivalent to the problem of sorting a permutation into the identity permutation - is a well-studied problem that finds application in comparative genomics. There are a number of works concerning this problem in the literature, but they generally do not take into account the length of the operations (i.e. the number of genes affected by the operations). Since it has been observed that short operations are prevalent in the evolution of some species, algorithms that efficiently solve this problem in the special case of short operations are of interest. In this paper, we investigate the problem of sorting a signed permutation by short operations. More precisely, we study four flavors of this problem: (i) the problem of sorting a signed permutation by reversals of length at most 2; (ii) the problem of sorting a signed permutation by reversals of length at most 3; (iii) the problem of sorting a signed permutation by reversals and transpositions of length at most 2; and (iv) the problem of sorting a signed permutation by reversals and transpositions of length at most 3. We present polynomial-time solutions for problems (i) and (iii), a 5-approximation for problem (ii), and a 3-approximation for problem (iv). Moreover, we show that the expected approximation ratio of the 5-approximation algorithm is not greater than 3 for random signed permutations with more than 12 elements. Finally, we present experimental results that show

Real-World Sorting of RHIC Superconducting Magnets

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wei, J.; Gupta, R.; Harrison, M.; Jain, A.; Peggs, S.; Thompson, P.; Trbojevic, D.; Wanderer, P.

1999-01-01

During the seven-year construction of the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC), more than 1700 superconducting dipoles, quadrupoles, sextupoles, and multi-layer correctors have been constructed and installed. These magnets have been sorted at several production stages to optimize their performance and reliability. For arc magnets, priorities have bene put first on quench performance and operational risk minimization, second on field transfer function and other first-order quantities, and finally on nonlinear field errors which were painstakingly optimized at design. For Interaction-Region (IR) magnets, sorting is applied to select the best possible combination of magnets for the low-β interaction points (IP). This paper summarizes the history of this real-world sorting process

Sensor module design and forward and inverse kinematics analysis of 6-DOF sorting transferring robot

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, Huiying; Lin, Jiajian; Liu, Lei; Tao, Meng

2017-09-01

To meet the demand of high strength express sorting, it is significant to design a robot with multiple degrees of freedom that can sort and transfer. This paper uses infrared sensor, color sensor and pressure sensor to receive external information, combine the plan of motion path in advance and the feedback information from the sensors, then write relevant program. In accordance with these, we can design a 6-DOF robot that can realize multi-angle seizing. In order to obtain characteristics of forward and inverse kinematics, this paper describes the coordinate directions and pose estimation by the D-H parameter method and closed solution. On the basis of the solution of forward and inverse kinematics, geometric parameters of links and link parameters are optimized in terms of application requirements. In this way, this robot can identify route, sort and transfer.

Sorting Out Seasonal Allergies

Science.gov (United States)

... Close ‹ Back to Healthy Living Sorting Out Seasonal Allergies Sneezing, runny nose, nasal congestion. Symptoms of the ... How do I know if I have seasonal allergies? According to Dr. Georgeson, the best way to ...

Optimized distributed systems achieve significant performance improvement on sorted merging of massive VCF files.

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Xiaobo; Gao, Jingjing; Jin, Peng; Eng, Celeste; Burchard, Esteban G; Beaty, Terri H; Ruczinski, Ingo; Mathias, Rasika A; Barnes, Kathleen; Wang, Fusheng; Qin, Zhaohui S

2018-06-01

Sorted merging of genomic data is a common data operation necessary in many sequencing-based studies. It involves sorting and merging genomic data from different subjects by their genomic locations. In particular, merging a large number of variant call format (VCF) files is frequently required in large-scale whole-genome sequencing or whole-exome sequencing projects. Traditional single-machine based methods become increasingly inefficient when processing large numbers of files due to the excessive computation time and Input/Output bottleneck. Distributed systems and more recent cloud-based systems offer an attractive solution. However, carefully designed and optimized workflow patterns and execution plans (schemas) are required to take full advantage of the increased computing power while overcoming bottlenecks to achieve high performance. In this study, we custom-design optimized schemas for three Apache big data platforms, Hadoop (MapReduce), HBase, and Spark, to perform sorted merging of a large number of VCF files. These schemas all adopt the divide-and-conquer strategy to split the merging job into sequential phases/stages consisting of subtasks that are conquered in an ordered, parallel, and bottleneck-free way. In two illustrating examples, we test the performance of our schemas on merging multiple VCF files into either a single TPED or a single VCF file, which are benchmarked with the traditional single/parallel multiway-merge methods, message passing interface (MPI)-based high-performance computing (HPC) implementation, and the popular VCFTools. Our experiments suggest all three schemas either deliver a significant improvement in efficiency or render much better strong and weak scalabilities over traditional methods. Our findings provide generalized scalable schemas for performing sorted merging on genetics and genomics data using these Apache distributed systems.

NeatSort - A practical adaptive algorithm

OpenAIRE

La Rocca, Marcello; Cantone, Domenico

2014-01-01

We present a new adaptive sorting algorithm which is optimal for most disorder metrics and, more important, has a simple and quick implementation. On input $X$, our algorithm has a theoretical $\\Omega (|X|)$ lower bound and a $\\mathcal{O}(|X|\\log|X|)$ upper bound, exhibiting amazing adaptive properties which makes it run closer to its lower bound as disorder (computed on different metrics) diminishes. From a practical point of view, \\textit{NeatSort} has proven itself competitive with (and of...

Automated Derivation of Complex System Constraints from User Requirements

Science.gov (United States)

Foshee, Mark; Murey, Kim; Marsh, Angela

2010-01-01

The Payload Operations Integration Center (POIC) located at the Marshall Space Flight Center has the responsibility of integrating US payload science requirements for the International Space Station (ISS). All payload operations must request ISS system resources so that the resource usage will be included in the ISS on-board execution timelines. The scheduling of resources and building of the timeline is performed using the Consolidated Planning System (CPS). The ISS resources are quite complex due to the large number of components that must be accounted for. The planners at the POIC simplify the process for Payload Developers (PD) by providing the PDs with a application that has the basic functionality PDs need as well as list of simplified resources in the User Requirements Collection (URC) application. The planners maintained a mapping of the URC resources to the CPS resources. The process of manually converting PD's science requirements from a simplified representation to a more complex CPS representation is a time-consuming and tedious process. The goal is to provide a software solution to allow the planners to build a mapping of the complex CPS constraints to the basic URC constraints and automatically convert the PD's requirements into systems requirements during export to CPS.

Transcriptional profiling of cells sorted by RNA abundance

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Klemm, Sandy; Semrau, Stefan; Wiebrands, Kay; Mooijman, Dylan; Faddah, Dina A; Jaenisch, Rudolf; van Oudenaarden, Alexander

We have developed a quantitative technique for sorting cells on the basis of endogenous RNA abundance, with a molecular resolution of 10-20 transcripts. We demonstrate efficient and unbiased RNA extraction from transcriptionally sorted cells and report a high-fidelity transcriptome measurement of

Two-sorted Point-Interval Temporal Logics

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Balbiani, Philippe; Goranko, Valentin; Sciavicco, Guido

2011-01-01

There are two natural and well-studied approaches to temporal ontology and reasoning: point-based and interval-based. Usually, interval-based temporal reasoning deals with points as particular, duration-less intervals. Here we develop explicitly two-sorted point-interval temporal logical framework...... whereby time instants (points) and time periods (intervals) are considered on a par, and the perspective can shift between them within the formal discourse. We focus on fragments involving only modal operators that correspond to the inter-sort relations between points and intervals. We analyze...

The Golgin GMAP210/TRIP11 anchors IFT20 to the Golgi complex.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

John A Follit

2008-12-01

Full Text Available Eukaryotic cells often use proteins localized to the ciliary membrane to monitor the extracellular environment. The mechanism by which proteins are sorted, specifically to this subdomain of the plasma membrane, is almost completely unknown. Previously, we showed that the IFT20 subunit of the intraflagellar transport particle is localized to the Golgi complex, in addition to the cilium and centrosome, and hypothesized that the Golgi pool of IFT20 plays a role in sorting proteins to the ciliary membrane. Here, we show that IFT20 is anchored to the Golgi complex by the golgin protein GMAP210/Trip11. Mice lacking GMAP210 die at birth with a pleiotropic phenotype that includes growth restriction, ventricular septal defects of the heart, omphalocele, and lung hypoplasia. Cells lacking GMAP210 have normal Golgi structure, but IFT20 is no longer localized to this organelle. GMAP210 is not absolutely required for ciliary assembly, but cilia on GMAP210 mutant cells are shorter than normal and have reduced amounts of the membrane protein polycystin-2 localized to them. This work suggests that GMAP210 and IFT20 function together at the Golgi in the sorting or transport of proteins destined for the ciliary membrane.

Unsupervised spike sorting based on discriminative subspace learning.

Science.gov (United States)

Keshtkaran, Mohammad Reza; Yang, Zhi

2014-01-01

Spike sorting is a fundamental preprocessing step for many neuroscience studies which rely on the analysis of spike trains. In this paper, we present two unsupervised spike sorting algorithms based on discriminative subspace learning. The first algorithm simultaneously learns the discriminative feature subspace and performs clustering. It uses histogram of features in the most discriminative projection to detect the number of neurons. The second algorithm performs hierarchical divisive clustering that learns a discriminative 1-dimensional subspace for clustering in each level of the hierarchy until achieving almost unimodal distribution in the subspace. The algorithms are tested on synthetic and in-vivo data, and are compared against two widely used spike sorting methods. The comparative results demonstrate that our spike sorting methods can achieve substantially higher accuracy in lower dimensional feature space, and they are highly robust to noise. Moreover, they provide significantly better cluster separability in the learned subspace than in the subspace obtained by principal component analysis or wavelet transform.

A Quality Sorting of Fruit Using a New Automatic Image Processing Method

Science.gov (United States)

Amenomori, Michihiro; Yokomizu, Nobuyuki

This paper presents an innovative approach for quality sorting of objects such as apples sorting in an agricultural factory, using an image processing algorithm. The objective of our approach are; firstly to sort the objects by their colors precisely; secondly to detect any irregularity of the colors surrounding the apples efficiently. An experiment has been conducted and the results have been obtained and compared with that has been preformed by human sorting process and by color sensor sorting devices. The results demonstrate that our approach is capable to sort the objects rapidly and the percentage of classification valid rate was 100 %.

Gender Sorting across K-12 Schools in the United States

Science.gov (United States)

Long, Mark C.; Conger, Dylan

2013-01-01

This article documents evidence of nonrandom gender sorting across K-12 schools in the United States. The sorting exists among coed schools and at all grade levels, and it is highest in the secondary school grades. We observe some gender sorting across school sectors and types: for instance, males are slightly underrepresented in private schools…

Sorting signed permutations by inversions in O(nlogn) time.

Science.gov (United States)

Swenson, Krister M; Rajan, Vaibhav; Lin, Yu; Moret, Bernard M E

2010-03-01

The study of genomic inversions (or reversals) has been a mainstay of computational genomics for nearly 20 years. After the initial breakthrough of Hannenhalli and Pevzner, who gave the first polynomial-time algorithm for sorting signed permutations by inversions, improved algorithms have been designed, culminating with an optimal linear-time algorithm for computing the inversion distance and a subquadratic algorithm for providing a shortest sequence of inversions--also known as sorting by inversions. Remaining open was the question of whether sorting by inversions could be done in O(nlogn) time. In this article, we present a qualified answer to this question, by providing two new sorting algorithms, a simple and fast randomized algorithm and a deterministic refinement. The deterministic algorithm runs in time O(nlogn + kn), where k is a data-dependent parameter. We provide the results of extensive experiments showing that both the average and the standard deviation for k are small constants, independent of the size of the permutation. We conclude (but do not prove) that almost all signed permutations can be sorted by inversions in O(nlogn) time.

Woody biomass comminution and sorting - a review of mechanical methods

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Eriksson, Gunnar [Swedish Univ. of Agricultural Sciences, Dept. of Forest Resource Management, Umeaa (Sweden)], e-mail: gunnar.eriksson@slu.se

2012-11-01

The increased demand for woody biomass for heat and electricity and biorefineries means that each bio component must be used efficiently. Any increase in raw material supply in the short term is likely to require the use of trees from early thinnings, logging residues and stumps, assortments of low value compared to stemwood. However, sorting of the novel materials into bio components may increase their value considerably. The challenge is to 1) maximise the overall values of the different raw material fractions for different users, 2) minimise costs for raw material extraction, processing, storage and transportation. Comminution of the raw material (e.g. to chips, chunks, flakes and powder) and sorting the bio components (e.g. separating bark from pulp chips and separating alkali-rich needles and shots for combustion and gasification applications) are crucial processes in this optimisation. The purpose of this study has been to make a literature review of principles for comminution and sorting, with an emphasis on mechanical methods suitable outside industries. More efficient comminution methods can be developed when the wood is to a larger extent cut along the fibre direction, and closer to the surface (with less pressure to the sides of the knife). By using coarse comminution (chunking) rather than fine comminution (chipping), productivity at landings can be increased and energy saved, the resulting product will have better storage and drying properties. At terminals, any further comminution (if necessary) could use larger-scale equipment of higher efficiency. Rolls and flails can be used to an increasing extent for removing foliage and twigs, possibly in the terrain (for instance fitted on grapples). Physical parameters used for sorting of the main components of trees include particle size, density and shape (aerodynamic drag and lift), optical and IR properties and X-ray fluorescence. Although methods developed for pulp chip production from whole trees may not

Construction of BAC Libraries from Flow-Sorted Chromosomes.

Science.gov (United States)

Šafář, Jan; Šimková, Hana; Doležel, Jaroslav

2016-01-01

Cloned DNA libraries in bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) are the most widely used form of large-insert DNA libraries. BAC libraries are typically represented by ordered clones derived from genomic DNA of a particular organism. In the case of large eukaryotic genomes, whole-genome libraries consist of a hundred thousand to a million clones, which make their handling and screening a daunting task. The labor and cost of working with whole-genome libraries can be greatly reduced by constructing a library derived from a smaller part of the genome. Here we describe construction of BAC libraries from mitotic chromosomes purified by flow cytometric sorting. Chromosome-specific BAC libraries facilitate positional gene cloning, physical mapping, and sequencing in complex plant genomes.

A QR code identification technology in package auto-sorting system

Science.gov (United States)

di, Yi-Juan; Shi, Jian-Ping; Mao, Guo-Yong

2017-07-01

Traditional manual sorting operation is not suitable for the development of Chinese logistics. For better sorting packages, a QR code recognition technology is proposed to identify the QR code label on the packages in package auto-sorting system. The experimental results compared with other algorithms in literatures demonstrate that the proposed method is valid and its performance is superior to other algorithms.

Non-dominated sorting binary differential evolution for the multi-objective optimization of cascading failures protection in complex networks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li, Y.F.; Sansavini, G.; Zio, E.

2013-01-01

A number of research works have been devoted to the optimization of protection strategies (e.g. transmission line switch off) of critical infrastructures (e.g. power grids, telecommunication networks, computer networks, etc) to avoid cascading failures. This work aims at improving a previous optimization approach proposed by some of the authors [1], based on the modified binary differential evolution (MBDE) algorithm. The improvements are three-fold: (1) in the optimization problem formulation, we introduce a third objective function to minimize the impacts of the switching off operations onto the existing network topology; (2) in the optimization problem formulation, we use the final results of cascades, rather than only a short horizon of one step cascading, to evaluate the effects of the switching off strategies; (3) in the optimization algorithm, the fast non-dominated sorting mechanisms are incorporated into the MBDE algorithm: a new algorithm, namely non-dominated sorting binary differential evolution algorithm (NSBDE) is then proposed. The numerical application to the topological structure of the 380 kV Italian power transmission network proves the benefits of the improvements.

BayesMotif: de novo protein sorting motif discovery from impure datasets.

Science.gov (United States)

Hu, Jianjun; Zhang, Fan

2010-01-18

Protein sorting is the process that newly synthesized proteins are transported to their target locations within or outside of the cell. This process is precisely regulated by protein sorting signals in different forms. A major category of sorting signals are amino acid sub-sequences usually located at the N-terminals or C-terminals of protein sequences. Genome-wide experimental identification of protein sorting signals is extremely time-consuming and costly. Effective computational algorithms for de novo discovery of protein sorting signals is needed to improve the understanding of protein sorting mechanisms. We formulated the protein sorting motif discovery problem as a classification problem and proposed a Bayesian classifier based algorithm (BayesMotif) for de novo identification of a common type of protein sorting motifs in which a highly conserved anchor is present along with a less conserved motif regions. A false positive removal procedure is developed to iteratively remove sequences that are unlikely to contain true motifs so that the algorithm can identify motifs from impure input sequences. Experiments on both implanted motif datasets and real-world datasets showed that the enhanced BayesMotif algorithm can identify anchored sorting motifs from pure or impure protein sequence dataset. It also shows that the false positive removal procedure can help to identify true motifs even when there is only 20% of the input sequences containing true motif instances. We proposed BayesMotif, a novel Bayesian classification based algorithm for de novo discovery of a special category of anchored protein sorting motifs from impure datasets. Compared to conventional motif discovery algorithms such as MEME, our algorithm can find less-conserved motifs with short highly conserved anchors. Our algorithm also has the advantage of easy incorporation of additional meta-sequence features such as hydrophobicity or charge of the motifs which may help to overcome the limitations of

A Model Vision of Sorting System Application Using Robotic Manipulator

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maralo Sinaga

2010-08-01

Full Text Available Image processing in today’s world grabs massive attentions as it leads to possibilities of broaden application in many fields of high technology. The real challenge is how to improve existing sorting system in the Moduler Processing System (MPS laboratory which consists of four integrated stations of distribution, testing, processing and handling with a new image processing feature. Existing sorting method uses a set of inductive, capacitive and optical sensors do differentiate object color. This paper presents a mechatronics color sorting system solution with the application of image processing. Supported by OpenCV, image processing procedure senses the circular objects in an image captured in realtime by a webcam and then extracts color and position information out of it. This information is passed as a sequence of sorting commands to the manipulator (Mitsubishi Movemaster RV-M1 that does pick-and-place mechanism. Extensive testing proves that this color based object sorting system works 100% accurate under ideal condition in term of adequate illumination, circular objects’ shape and color. The circular objects tested for sorting are silver, red and black. For non-ideal condition, such as unspecified color the accuracy reduces to 80%.

Sorting live stem cells based on Sox2 mRNA expression.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hans M Larsson

Full Text Available While cell sorting usually relies on cell-surface protein markers, molecular beacons (MBs offer the potential to sort cells based on the presence of any expressed mRNA and in principle could be extremely useful to sort rare cell populations from primary isolates. We show here how stem cells can be purified from mixed cell populations by sorting based on MBs. Specifically, we designed molecular beacons targeting Sox2, a well-known stem cell marker for murine embryonic (mES and neural stem cells (NSC. One of our designed molecular beacons displayed an increase in fluorescence compared to a nonspecific molecular beacon both in vitro and in vivo when tested in mES and NSCs. We sorted Sox2-MB(+SSEA1(+ cells from a mixed population of 4-day retinoic acid-treated mES cells and effectively isolated live undifferentiated stem cells. Additionally, Sox2-MB(+ cells isolated from primary mouse brains were sorted and generated neurospheres with higher efficiency than Sox2-MB(- cells. These results demonstrate the utility of MBs for stem cell sorting in an mRNA-specific manner.

The role of color sorting machine in reducing food safety risks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Eleonora Kecskes-Nagy

2016-07-01

Full Text Available It is the very difficult problem how we can decrease food safety risks in the product, which was polluted in process of cropping. According to professional literature almost the prevention is considered as an exclusive method to keep below safe level the content of DON toxin. The source of food safety in food chain is that the primary products suit the food safety requirements. It is a very difficult or sometimes it is not possible to correct food safety risk factors - which got into the products during cultivation - in the course of processing. Such factor is fusariotoxin in fodder and bread wheat. DON toxin is the most frequent toxin in cereals. The objective of the searching was to investigate, if it is possible to decrease DON toxin content of durum wheat and to minimize the food safety risk by application milling technology with good production practice and technological conditions. The samples were taken in the first phase of milling technology just before and after color sorting. According to measuring results Sortex Z+ optical sorting decreased DON toxin content of wheat. This mean that the food safety risks can be reduced by Sortex Z+ optical sorting machine. Our experiments proved if there is color sorting in the cleaning process preceding the milling of wheat then a part of the grain of wheat infected by Fusarium sp. can be selected. This improves the food safety parameters of given lot of wheat and decrease the toxin content. The flour made from contaminated grains of wheat can be a serious food safety risk. We would like to support scientifically the technical development of milling technology with our experimental data. Normal 0 21 false false false HU X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4

Design and analysis on sorting blade for automated size-based sorting device

Science.gov (United States)

Razali, Zol Bahri; Kader, Mohamed Mydin M. Abdul; Samsudin, Yasser Suhaimi; Daud, Mohd Hisam

2017-09-01

Nowadays rubbish separating or recycling is a main problem of nation, where peoples dumped their rubbish into dumpsite without caring the value of the rubbish if it can be recycled and reused. Thus the author proposed an automated segregating device, purposely to teach people to separate their rubbish and value the rubbish that can be reused. The automated size-based mechanical segregating device provides significant improvements in terms of efficiency and consistency in this segregating process. This device is designed to make recycling easier, user friendly, in the hope that more people will take responsibility if it is less of an expense of time and effort. This paper discussed about redesign a blade for the sorting device which is to develop an efficient automated mechanical sorting device for the similar material but in different size. The machine is able to identify the size of waste and it depends to the coil inside the container to separate it out. The detail design and methodology is described in detail in this paper.

Standard practice for cell sorting in a BSL-3 facility.

Science.gov (United States)

Perfetto, Stephen P; Ambrozak, David R; Nguyen, Richard; Roederer, Mario; Koup, Richard A; Holmes, Kevin L

2011-01-01

Over the past decade, there has been a rapid growth in the number of BSL-3 and BSL-4 laboratories in the USA and an increase in demand for infectious cell sorting in BSL-3 laboratories. In 2007, the International Society for Advancement of Cytometry (ISAC) Biosafety Committee published standards for the sorting of unfixed cells and is an important resource for biosafety procedures when performing infectious cell sorting. Following a careful risk assessment, if it is determined that a cell sorter must be located within a BSL-3 laboratory, there are a variety of factors to be considered prior to the establishment of the laboratory. This chapter outlines procedures for infectious cell sorting in a BSL-3 environment to facilitate the establishment and safe operation of a BSL-3 cell sorting laboratory. Subjects covered include containment verification, remote operation, disinfection, personal protective equipment (PPE), and instrument-specific modifications for enhanced aerosol evacuation.

Parallel sort with a ranged, partitioned key-value store in a high perfomance computing environment

Science.gov (United States)

Bent, John M.; Faibish, Sorin; Grider, Gary; Torres, Aaron; Poole, Stephen W.

2016-01-26

Improved sorting techniques are provided that perform a parallel sort using a ranged, partitioned key-value store in a high performance computing (HPC) environment. A plurality of input data files comprising unsorted key-value data in a partitioned key-value store are sorted. The partitioned key-value store comprises a range server for each of a plurality of ranges. Each input data file has an associated reader thread. Each reader thread reads the unsorted key-value data in the corresponding input data file and performs a local sort of the unsorted key-value data to generate sorted key-value data. A plurality of sorted, ranged subsets of each of the sorted key-value data are generated based on the plurality of ranges. Each sorted, ranged subset corresponds to a given one of the ranges and is provided to one of the range servers corresponding to the range of the sorted, ranged subset. Each range server sorts the received sorted, ranged subsets and provides a sorted range. A plurality of the sorted ranges are concatenated to obtain a globally sorted result.

Sorting Real Numbers in $O(n\\sqrt{\\log n})$ Time and Linear Space

OpenAIRE

Han, Yijie

2017-01-01

We present an $O(n\\sqrt{\\log n})$ time and linear space algorithm for sorting real numbers. This breaks the long time illusion that real numbers have to be sorted by comparison sorting and take $\\Omega (n\\log n)$ time to be sorted.

Rab9-dependent retrograde transport and endosomal sorting of the endopeptidase furin

Science.gov (United States)

Chia, Pei Zhi Cheryl; Gasnereau, Isabelle; Lieu, Zi Zhao; Gleeson, Paul A.

2011-01-01

The endopeptidase furin and the trans-Golgi network protein TGN38 are membrane proteins that recycle between the TGN and plasma membrane. TGN38 is transported by a retromer-dependent pathway from early endosomes to the TGN, whereas the intracellular transport of furin is poorly defined. Here we have identified the itinerary and transport requirements of furin. Using internalisation assays, we show that furin transits the early and late endosomes en route to the TGN. The GTPase Rab9 and the TGN golgin GCC185, components of the late endosome-to-TGN pathway, were required for efficient TGN retrieval of furin. By contrast, TGN38 trafficking was independent of Rab9 and GCC185. To identify the sorting signals for the early endosome-to-TGN pathway, the trafficking of furin–TGN38 chimeras was investigated. The diversion of furin from the Rab9-dependent late-endosome-to-TGN pathway to the retromer-dependent early-endosome-to-TGN pathway required both the transmembrane domain and cytoplasmic tail of TGN38. We present evidence to suggest that the length of the transmembrane domain is a contributing factor in endosomal sorting. Overall, these data show that furin uses the Rab9-dependent pathway from late endosomes and that retrograde transport directly from early endosomes is dependent on both the transmembrane domain and the cytoplasmic tail. PMID:21693586

Multiple pathways for vacuolar sorting of yeast proteinase A

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Westphal, V; Marcusson, E G; Winther, Jakob R.

1996-01-01

The sorting of the yeast proteases proteinase A and carboxypeptidase Y to the vacuole is a saturable, receptor-mediated process. Information sufficient for vacuolar sorting of the normally secreted protein invertase has in fusion constructs previously been found to reside in the propeptide...

Reducing 4D CT artifacts using optimized sorting based on anatomic similarity.

Science.gov (United States)

Johnston, Eric; Diehn, Maximilian; Murphy, James D; Loo, Billy W; Maxim, Peter G

2011-05-01

Four-dimensional (4D) computed tomography (CT) has been widely used as a tool to characterize respiratory motion in radiotherapy. The two most commonly used 4D CT algorithms sort images by the associated respiratory phase or displacement into a predefined number of bins, and are prone to image artifacts at transitions between bed positions. The purpose of this work is to demonstrate a method of reducing motion artifacts in 4D CT by incorporating anatomic similarity into phase or displacement based sorting protocols. Ten patient datasets were retrospectively sorted using both the displacement and phase based sorting algorithms. Conventional sorting methods allow selection of only the nearest-neighbor image in time or displacement within each bin. In our method, for each bed position either the displacement or the phase defines the center of a bin range about which several candidate images are selected. The two dimensional correlation coefficients between slices bordering the interface between adjacent couch positions are then calculated for all candidate pairings. Two slices have a high correlation if they are anatomically similar. Candidates from each bin are then selected to maximize the slice correlation over the entire data set using the Dijkstra's shortest path algorithm. To assess the reduction of artifacts, two thoracic radiation oncologists independently compared the resorted 4D datasets pairwise with conventionally sorted datasets, blinded to the sorting method, to choose which had the least motion artifacts. Agreement between reviewers was evaluated using the weighted kappa score. Anatomically based image selection resulted in 4D CT datasets with significantly reduced motion artifacts with both displacement (P = 0.0063) and phase sorting (P = 0.00022). There was good agreement between the two reviewers, with complete agreement 34 times and complete disagreement 6 times. Optimized sorting using anatomic similarity significantly reduces 4D CT motion

Flow cytogenetics and chromosome sorting.

Science.gov (United States)

Cram, L S

1990-06-01

This review of flow cytogenetics and chromosome sorting provides an overview of general information in the field and describes recent developments in more detail. From the early developments of chromosome analysis involving single parameter or one color analysis to the latest developments in slit scanning of single chromosomes in a flow stream, the field has progressed rapidly and most importantly has served as an important enabling technology for the human genome project. Technological innovations that advanced flow cytogenetics are described and referenced. Applications in basic cell biology, molecular biology, and clinical investigations are presented. The necessary characteristics for large number chromosome sorting are highlighted. References to recent review articles are provided as a starting point for locating individual references that provide more detail. Specific references are provided for recent developments.

Machine Vision System for Color Sorting Wood Edge-Glued Panel Parts

Science.gov (United States)

Qiang Lu; S. Srikanteswara; W. King; T. Drayer; Richard Conners; D. Earl Kline; Philip A. Araman

1997-01-01

This paper describes an automatic color sorting system for hardwood edge-glued panel parts. The color sorting system simultaneously examines both faces of a panel part and then determines which face has the "better" color given specified color uniformity and priority defined by management. The real-time color sorting system software and hardware are briefly...

Distinct pathways mediate the sorting of tail-anchored proteins to the plastid outer envelope.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Preetinder K Dhanoa

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Tail-anchored (TA proteins are a distinct class of membrane proteins that are sorted post-translationally to various organelles and function in a number of important cellular processes, including redox reactions, vesicular trafficking and protein translocation. While the molecular targeting signals and pathways responsible for sorting TA proteins to their correct intracellular destinations in yeasts and mammals have begun to be characterized, relatively little is known about TA protein biogenesis in plant cells, especially for those sorted to the plastid outer envelope. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Here we investigated the biogenesis of three plastid TA proteins, including the 33-kDa and 34-kDa GTPases of the translocon at the outer envelope of chloroplasts (Toc33 and Toc34 and a novel 9-kDa protein of unknown function that we define here as an outer envelope TA protein (OEP9. Using a combination of in vivo and in vitro assays we show that OEP9 utilizes a different sorting pathway than that used by Toc33 and Toc34. For instance, while all three TA proteins interact with the cytosolic OEP chaperone/receptor, AKR2A, the plastid targeting information within OEP9 is distinct from that within Toc33 and Toc34. Toc33 and Toc34 also appear to differ from OEP9 in that their insertion is dependent on themselves and the unique lipid composition of the plastid outer envelope. By contrast, the insertion of OEP9 into the plastid outer envelope occurs in a proteinaceous-dependent, but Toc33/34-independent manner and membrane lipids appear to serve primarily to facilitate normal thermodynamic integration of this TA protein. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Collectively, the results provide evidence in support of at least two sorting pathways for plastid TA outer envelope proteins and shed light on not only the complex diversity of pathways involved in the targeting and insertion of proteins into plastids, but also the molecular mechanisms that underlie

Automated spike sorting algorithm based on Laplacian eigenmaps and k-means clustering.

Science.gov (United States)

Chah, E; Hok, V; Della-Chiesa, A; Miller, J J H; O'Mara, S M; Reilly, R B

2011-02-01

This study presents a new automatic spike sorting method based on feature extraction by Laplacian eigenmaps combined with k-means clustering. The performance of the proposed method was compared against previously reported algorithms such as principal component analysis (PCA) and amplitude-based feature extraction. Two types of classifier (namely k-means and classification expectation-maximization) were incorporated within the spike sorting algorithms, in order to find a suitable classifier for the feature sets. Simulated data sets and in-vivo tetrode multichannel recordings were employed to assess the performance of the spike sorting algorithms. The results show that the proposed algorithm yields significantly improved performance with mean sorting accuracy of 73% and sorting error of 10% compared to PCA which combined with k-means had a sorting accuracy of 58% and sorting error of 10%.A correction was made to this article on 22 February 2011. The spacing of the title was amended on the abstract page. No changes were made to the article PDF and the print version was unaffected.

Using Design Sketch to Teach Bubble Sort in High School

OpenAIRE

Liu, Chih-Hao; Jiu, Yi-Wen; Chen, Jason Jen-Yen

2009-01-01

Bubble Sort is simple. Yet, it seems a bit difficult for high school students. This paper presents a pedagogical methodology: Using Design Sketch to visualize the concepts in Bubble Sort, and to evaluate how this approach assists students to understand the pseudo code of Bubble Sort. An experiment is conducted in Wu-Ling Senior High School with 250 students taking part. The statistical analysis of experimental results shows that, for relatively high abstraction concepts, such as iteration num...

The fifth adaptor protein complex.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jennifer Hirst

2011-10-01

Full Text Available Adaptor protein (AP complexes sort cargo into vesicles for transport from one membrane compartment of the cell to another. Four distinct AP complexes have been identified, which are present in most eukaryotes. We report the existence of a fifth AP complex, AP-5. Tagged AP-5 localises to a late endosomal compartment in HeLa cells. AP-5 does not associate with clathrin and is insensitive to brefeldin A. Knocking down AP-5 subunits interferes with the trafficking of the cation-independent mannose 6-phosphate receptor and causes the cell to form swollen endosomal structures with emanating tubules. AP-5 subunits can be found in all five eukaryotic supergroups, but they have been co-ordinately lost in many organisms. Concatenated phylogenetic analysis provides robust resolution, for the first time, into the evolutionary order of emergence of the adaptor subunit families, showing AP-3 as the basal complex, followed by AP-5, AP-4, and AP-1 and AP-2. Thus, AP-5 is an evolutionarily ancient complex, which is involved in endosomal sorting, and which has links with hereditary spastic paraplegia.

Reduction of Aflatoxins in Apricot Kernels by Electronic and Manual Color Sorting

OpenAIRE

Zivoli, Rosanna; Gambacorta, Lucia; Piemontese, Luca; Solfrizzo, Michele

2016-01-01

The efficacy of color sorting on reducing aflatoxin levels in shelled apricot kernels was assessed. Naturally-contaminated kernels were submitted to an electronic optical sorter or blanched, peeled, and manually sorted to visually identify and sort discolored kernels (dark and spotted) from healthy ones. The samples obtained from the two sorting approaches were ground, homogenized, and analysed by HPLC-FLD for their aflatoxin content. A mass balance approach was used to measure the distributi...

The use of radiometric ore sorting on South African gold mines

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Boehme, R.C.; Freer, J.S.

1982-01-01

This paper refers to the radiometric sorting tests reported during the 7th CMMI Congress, and then describes the photometric and radiometric sorter installations in operation and under construction in South Africa at present. As radiometric sorting of gold ores uses the radiation from the uranium content as a tracer, it is essential that the sortability of the ore should be reliably determined before sorting is adopted. The method of obtaining the important ore characteristics is described, with examples. The possible increase in gold production from a hypothetical plant as a result of sorting is shown

Spike sorting for polytrodes: a divide and conquer approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nicholas V. Swindale

2014-02-01

Full Text Available In order to determine patterns of neural activity, spike signals recorded by extracellular electrodes have to be clustered (sorted with the aim of ensuring that each cluster represents all the spikes generated by an individual neuron. Many methods for spike sorting have been proposed but few are easily applicable to recordings from polytrodes which may have 16 or more recording sites. As with tetrodes, these are spaced sufficiently closely that signals from single neurons will usually be recorded on several adjacent sites. Although this offers a better chance of distinguishing neurons with similarly shaped spikes, sorting is difficult in such cases because of the high dimensionality of the space in which the signals must be classified. This report details a method for spike sorting based on a divide and conquer approach. Clusters are initially formed by assigning each event to the channel on which it is largest. Each channel-based cluster is then sub-divided into as many distinct clusters as possible. These are then recombined on the basis of pairwise tests into a final set of clusters. Pairwise tests are also performed to establish how distinct each cluster is from the others. A modified gradient ascent clustering (GAC algorithm is used to do the clustering. The method can sort spikes with minimal user input in times comparable to real time for recordings lasting up to 45 minutes. Our results illustrate some of the difficulties inherent in spike sorting, including changes in spike shape over time. We show that some physiologically distinct units may have very similar spike shapes. We show that RMS measures of spike shape similarity are not sensitive enough to discriminate clusters that can otherwise be separated by principal components analysis. Hence spike sorting based on least-squares matching to templates may be unreliable. Our methods should be applicable to tetrodes and scaleable to larger multi-electrode arrays (MEAs.

Selective sorting of waste

CERN Multimedia

2007-01-01

Not much effort needed, just willpower In order to keep the cost of disposing of waste materials as low as possible, CERN provides two types of recipient at the entrance to each building: a green plastic one for paper/cardboard and a metal one for general refuse. For some time now we have noticed, to our great regret, a growing negligence as far as selective sorting is concerned, with, for example, the green recipients being filled with a mixture of cardboard boxes full of polystyrene or protective wrappers, plastic bottles, empty yogurts pots, etc. …We have been able to ascertain, after careful checking, that this haphazard mixing of waste cannot be attributed to the cleaning staff but rather to members of the personnel who unscrupulously throw away their rubbish in a completely random manner. Non-sorted waste entails heavy costs for CERN. For information, once a non-compliant item is found in a green recipient, the entire contents are sent off for incineration rather than recycling… We are all concerned...

A Visual Guide to Sorting Electrophysiological Recordings Using 'SpikeSorter'.

Science.gov (United States)

Swindale, Nicholas V; Mitelut, Catalin; Murphy, Timothy H; Spacek, Martin A

2017-02-10

Few stand-alone software applications are available for sorting spikes from recordings made with multi-electrode arrays. Ideally, an application should be user friendly with a graphical user interface, able to read data files in a variety of formats, and provide users with a flexible set of tools giving them the ability to detect and sort extracellular voltage waveforms from different units with some degree of reliability. Previously published spike sorting methods are now available in a software program, SpikeSorter, intended to provide electrophysiologists with a complete set of tools for sorting, starting from raw recorded data file and ending with the export of sorted spikes times. Procedures are automated to the extent this is currently possible. The article explains and illustrates the use of the program. A representative data file is opened, extracellular traces are filtered, events are detected and then clustered. A number of problems that commonly occur during sorting are illustrated, including the artefactual over-splitting of units due to the tendency of some units to fire spikes in pairs where the second spike is significantly smaller than the first, and over-splitting caused by slow variation in spike height over time encountered in some units. The accuracy of SpikeSorter's performance has been tested with surrogate ground truth data and found to be comparable to that of other algorithms in current development.

Satisfying positivity requirement in the Beyond Complex Langevin approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wyrzykowski Adam

2018-01-01

Full Text Available The problem of finding a positive distribution, which corresponds to a given complex density, is studied. By the requirement that the moments of the positive distribution and of the complex density are equal, one can reduce the problem to solving the matching conditions. These conditions are a set of quadratic equations, thus Groebner basis method was used to find its solutions when it is restricted to a few lowest-order moments. For a Gaussian complex density, these approximate solutions are compared with the exact solution, that is known in this special case.

Satisfying positivity requirement in the Beyond Complex Langevin approach

Science.gov (United States)

Wyrzykowski, Adam; Ruba, Błażej Ruba

2018-03-01

The problem of finding a positive distribution, which corresponds to a given complex density, is studied. By the requirement that the moments of the positive distribution and of the complex density are equal, one can reduce the problem to solving the matching conditions. These conditions are a set of quadratic equations, thus Groebner basis method was used to find its solutions when it is restricted to a few lowest-order moments. For a Gaussian complex density, these approximate solutions are compared with the exact solution, that is known in this special case.

An introduction to three algorithms for sorting in situ

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Dijkstra, E.W.; Gasteren, van A.J.M.

1982-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to give a crisp introduction to three algorithms for sorting in situ, viz. insertion sort, heapsort and smoothsort. The more complicated the algorithm, the more elaborate the justification for the design decisions embodied by it. In passing we offer a style for the

Technology to sort lumber by color and grain for furniture parts

Science.gov (United States)

D. Earl Kline; Richard Conners; Philip A. Araman

2000-01-01

This paper describes an automatic color and grain sorting system for wood edge-glued panel parts. The color sorting system simultaneously examines both faces of a panel part and then determines which face has the "best" color, and sorts the part into one of a number of color classes at plant production speeds. In-plant test results show that the system...

Flow assurance : complex phase behavior and complex work requires confidence and vigilance

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Brown, L.D. [ConocoPhillips, Major Projects, Advanced Integrated Simulation, Houston, TX (United States)

2008-07-01

Petroleum exploration and development projects and operations increasingly rely on flow assurance definition. Flow assurance is an integrating discipline as it follows the fluid from the reservoir to the market. Flow assurance works across complex technical and non-technical interfaces, including the reservoir, well completions, operation processes, project management, physical/organic chemistry, fluid mechanics, chemical engineering, mechanical engineering and corrosion. The phase behaviour in real fluids also has complex interfaces. The understanding and management of flow assurance of complex phase behaviour must be well communicated in order to enable proper selection, execution, and operation of development concepts designed to manage successful production within the fluid's phase behaviour. Simulation tools facilitate the translation of science into engineering. Academic, industrial, and field research is the core of these tools. The author cautioned that vigilance is required to assist and identify the right time to move innovation into the core tools.

A New Algorithm Using the Non-Dominated Tree to Improve Non-Dominated Sorting.

Science.gov (United States)

Gustavsson, Patrik; Syberfeldt, Anna

2018-01-01

Non-dominated sorting is a technique often used in evolutionary algorithms to determine the quality of solutions in a population. The most common algorithm is the Fast Non-dominated Sort (FNS). This algorithm, however, has the drawback that its performance deteriorates when the population size grows. The same drawback applies also to other non-dominating sorting algorithms such as the Efficient Non-dominated Sort with Binary Strategy (ENS-BS). An algorithm suggested to overcome this drawback is the Divide-and-Conquer Non-dominated Sort (DCNS) which works well on a limited number of objectives but deteriorates when the number of objectives grows. This article presents a new, more efficient algorithm called the Efficient Non-dominated Sort with Non-Dominated Tree (ENS-NDT). ENS-NDT is an extension of the ENS-BS algorithm and uses a novel Non-Dominated Tree (NDTree) to speed up the non-dominated sorting. ENS-NDT is able to handle large population sizes and a large number of objectives more efficiently than existing algorithms for non-dominated sorting. In the article, it is shown that with ENS-NDT the runtime of multi-objective optimization algorithms such as the Non-Dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm II (NSGA-II) can be substantially reduced.

Characterization of the Pseudomonas aeruginosa Lol system as a lipoprotein sorting mechanism.

Science.gov (United States)

Tanaka, Shin-Ya; Narita, Shin-Ichiro; Tokuda, Hajime

2007-05-04

Escherichia coli lipoproteins are localized to either the inner or the outer membrane depending on the residue that is present next to the N-terminal acylated Cys. Asp at position 2 causes the retention of lipoproteins in the inner membrane. In contrast, the accompanying study (9) revealed that the residues at positions 3 and 4 determine the membrane specificity of lipoproteins in Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Since the five Lol proteins involved in the sorting of E. coli lipoproteins are conserved in P. aeruginosa, we examined whether or not the Lol proteins of P. aeruginosa are also involved in lipoprotein sorting but utilize different signals. The genes encoding LolCDE, LolA, and LolB homologues were cloned and expressed. The LolCDE homologue thus purified was reconstituted into proteoliposomes with lipoproteins. When incubated in the presence of ATP and a LolA homologue, the reconstituted LolCDE homologue released lipoproteins, leading to the formation of a LolA-lipoprotein complex. Lipoproteins were then incorporated into the outer membrane depending on a LolB homologue. As revealed in vivo, lipoproteins with Lys and Ser at positions 3 and 4, respectively, remained in proteoliposomes. On the other hand, E. coli LolCDE released lipoproteins with this signal and transferred them to LolA of not only E. coli but also P. aeruginosa. These results indicate that Lol proteins are responsible for the sorting of lipoproteins to the outer membrane of P. aeruginosa, as in the case of E. coli, but respond differently to inner membrane retention signals.

COST EVALUATION OF AUTOMATED AND MANUAL POST- CONSUMER PLASTIC BOTTLE SORTING SYSTEMS

Science.gov (United States)

This project evaluates, on the basis of performance and cost, two Automated BottleSort® sorting systems for post-consumer commingled plastic containers developed by Magnetic Separation Systems. This study compares the costs to sort mixed bales of post-consumer plastic at these t...

Vertical sorting and the morphodynamics of bed form-dominated rivers : a sorting evolution model

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Blom, Astrid; Ribberink, Jan S.; Parker, Gary

2008-01-01

Existing sediment continuity models for nonuniform sediment suffer from a number of shortcomings, as they fail to describe vertical sorting fluxes other than through net aggradation or degradation of the bed and are based on a discrete representation of the bed material interacting with the flow. We

Comparison of Classifier Architectures for Online Neural Spike Sorting.

Science.gov (United States)

Saeed, Maryam; Khan, Amir Ali; Kamboh, Awais Mehmood

2017-04-01

High-density, intracranial recordings from micro-electrode arrays need to undergo Spike Sorting in order to associate the recorded neuronal spikes to particular neurons. This involves spike detection, feature extraction, and classification. To reduce the data transmission and power requirements, on-chip real-time processing is becoming very popular. However, high computational resources are required for classifiers in on-chip spike-sorters, making scalability a great challenge. In this review paper, we analyze several popular classifiers to propose five new hardware architectures using the off-chip training with on-chip classification approach. These include support vector classification, fuzzy C-means classification, self-organizing maps classification, moving-centroid K-means classification, and Cosine distance classification. The performance of these architectures is analyzed in terms of accuracy and resource requirement. We establish that the neural networks based Self-Organizing Maps classifier offers the most viable solution. A spike sorter based on the Self-Organizing Maps classifier, requires only 7.83% of computational resources of the best-reported spike sorter, hierarchical adaptive means, while offering a 3% better accuracy at 7 dB SNR.

Dielectrophoretic focusing integrated pulsed laser activated cell sorting

Science.gov (United States)

Zhu, Xiongfeng; Kung, Yu-Chun; Wu, Ting-Hsiang; Teitell, Michael A.; Chiou, Pei-Yu

2017-08-01

We present a pulsed laser activated cell sorter (PLACS) integrated with novel sheathless size-independent dielectrophoretic (DEP) focusing. Microfluidic fluorescence activated cell sorting (μFACS) systems aim to provide a fully enclosed environment for sterile cell sorting and integration with upstream and downstream microfluidic modules. Among them, PLACS has shown a great potential in achieving comparable performance to commercial aerosol-based FACS (>90% purity at 25,000 cells sec-1). However conventional sheath flow focusing method suffers a severe sample dilution issue. Here we demonstrate a novel dielectrophoresis-integrated pulsed laser activated cell sorter (DEP-PLACS). It consists of a microfluidic channel with 3D electrodes laid out to provide a tunnel-shaped electric field profile along a 4cmlong channel for sheathlessly focusing microparticles/cells into a single stream in high-speed microfluidic flows. All focused particles pass through the fluorescence detection zone along the same streamline regardless of their sizes and types. Upon detection of target fluorescent particles, a nanosecond laser pulse is triggered and focused in a neighboring channel to generate a rapidly expanding cavitation bubble for precise sorting. DEP-PLACS has achieved a sorting purity of 91% for polystyrene beads at a throughput of 1,500 particle/sec.

Sorting out river channel patterns

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kleinhans, M.G.

2010-01-01

Rivers self-organize their pattern/planform through feedbacks between bars, channels, floodplain and vegetation, which emerge as a result of the basic spatial sorting process of wash load sediment and bed sediment. The balance between floodplain formation and destruction determines the width and

Continuous sorting of Brownian particles using coupled photophoresis and asymmetric potential cycling.

Science.gov (United States)

Ng, Tuck Wah; Neild, Adrian; Heeraman, Pascal

2008-03-15

Feasible sorters need to function rapidly and permit the input and delivery of particles continuously. Here, we describe a scheme that incorporates (i) restricted spatial input location and (ii) orthogonal sort and movement direction features. Sorting is achieved using an asymmetric potential that is cycled on and off, whereas movement is accomplished using photophoresis. Simulations with 0.2 and 0.5 microm diameter spherical particles indicate that sorting can commence quickly from a continuous stream. Procedures to optimize the sorting scheme are also described.

Det sorte USA

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Brøndal, Jørn

Bogen gennemgår det sorte USAs historie fra 1776 til 2016, idet grundtemaet er spændingsforholdet mellem USAs grundlæggelsesidealer og den racemæssige praksis, et spændingsforhold som Gunnar Myrdal kaldte "det amerikanske dilemma." Bogen, der er opbygget som politisk, social og racemæssig histori......, er opdelt i 13 kapitler og består af fire dele: Første del: Slaveriet; anden del: Jim Crow; tredje del. King-årene; fjerde del: Frem mod Obama....

Heavy mineral sorting and distributions within massive sandstone divisions (Bouma A divisions) of Brushy Canyon Formation turbidites

Science.gov (United States)

Motanated, K.; Tice, M. M.

2009-12-01

KANNIPA MOTANATED and MICHAEL M. TICE Department of Geology and Geophysics, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843-3115, USA Sediment sorting data are commonly used for interpreting depositional environments, analyzing mechanisms of deposition and transportation, and inferring relative transport distance of sediments. Typically, sorting in sandstones is estimated by point-counting thin sections which is a time consuming procedure and requires cutting sections of rock samples. We demonstrate a new technique for quantifying sediment sorting using element distribution maps obtained by x-ray fluorescence microscopy. We show that hydraulic sorting of Zr- and Ti- bearing grains (probably zircon and rutile, respectively) results in characteristic vertical profiles of Zr and Ti abundances within the Bouma A divisions of turbidites of the Brushy Canyon Formation, Delaware Basin, southern New Mexico. Zr- and Ti- bearing grains decrease in abundance and diameter from bases to tops of A divisions in every sample examined in this study. These results contrast with previous observations which suggest that grading in Brushy Canyon Formation structureless sandstones is absent or rare. The data support turbiditic interpretations of these rocks against traction current interpretations which rely on the lack of textural grading. Grading is reflected in vertical profiles of Ti/Al, Zr/Al and Zr/Ti ratios, which each decrease upward. These compositional variations could potentially be used as geochemical proxies for physical sorting, and might be useful for inferring depositional processes and relative transport distances.

Rapid isolation of antibody from a synthetic human antibody library by repeated fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sung Sun Yim

Full Text Available Antibodies and their derivatives are the most important agents in therapeutics and diagnostics. Even after the significant progress in the technology for antibody screening from huge libraries, it takes a long time to isolate an antibody, which prevents a prompt action against the spread of a disease. Here, we report a new strategy for isolating desired antibodies from a combinatorial library in one day by repeated fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS. First, we constructed a library of synthetic human antibody in which single-chain variable fragment (scFv was expressed in the periplasm of Escherichia coli. After labeling the cells with fluorescent antigen probes, the highly fluorescent cells were sorted by using a high-speed cell sorter, and these cells were reused without regeneration in the next round of sorting. After repeating this sorting, the positive clones were completely enriched in several hours. Thus, we screened the library against three viral antigens, including the H1N1 influenza virus, Hepatitis B virus, and Foot-and-mouth disease virus. Finally, the potential antibody candidates, which show K(D values between 10 and 100 nM against the target antigens, could be successfully isolated even though the library was relatively small (∼ 10(6. These results show that repeated FACS screening without regeneration of the sorted cells can be a powerful method when a rapid response to a spreading disease is required.

Optimization of magnet sorting in a storage ring using genetic algorithms

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen Jia; Wang Lin; Li Weimin; Gao Weiwei

2013-01-01

In this paper, the genetic algorithms are applied to the optimization problem of magnet sorting in an electron storage ring, according to which the objectives are set so that the closed orbit distortion and beta beating can be minimized and the dynamic aperture maximized. The sorting of dipole, quadrupole and sextupole magnets is optimized while the optimization results show the power of the application of genetic algorithms in magnet sorting. (authors)

Accurately tracking single-cell movement trajectories in microfluidic cell sorting devices.

Science.gov (United States)

Jeong, Jenny; Frohberg, Nicholas J; Zhou, Enlu; Sulchek, Todd; Qiu, Peng

2018-01-01

Microfluidics are routinely used to study cellular properties, including the efficient quantification of single-cell biomechanics and label-free cell sorting based on the biomechanical properties, such as elasticity, viscosity, stiffness, and adhesion. Both quantification and sorting applications require optimal design of the microfluidic devices and mathematical modeling of the interactions between cells, fluid, and the channel of the device. As a first step toward building such a mathematical model, we collected video recordings of cells moving through a ridged microfluidic channel designed to compress and redirect cells according to cell biomechanics. We developed an efficient algorithm that automatically and accurately tracked the cell trajectories in the recordings. We tested the algorithm on recordings of cells with different stiffness, and showed the correlation between cell stiffness and the tracked trajectories. Moreover, the tracking algorithm successfully picked up subtle differences of cell motion when passing through consecutive ridges. The algorithm for accurately tracking cell trajectories paves the way for future efforts of modeling the flow, forces, and dynamics of cell properties in microfluidics applications.

Accurately tracking single-cell movement trajectories in microfluidic cell sorting devices.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jenny Jeong

Full Text Available Microfluidics are routinely used to study cellular properties, including the efficient quantification of single-cell biomechanics and label-free cell sorting based on the biomechanical properties, such as elasticity, viscosity, stiffness, and adhesion. Both quantification and sorting applications require optimal design of the microfluidic devices and mathematical modeling of the interactions between cells, fluid, and the channel of the device. As a first step toward building such a mathematical model, we collected video recordings of cells moving through a ridged microfluidic channel designed to compress and redirect cells according to cell biomechanics. We developed an efficient algorithm that automatically and accurately tracked the cell trajectories in the recordings. We tested the algorithm on recordings of cells with different stiffness, and showed the correlation between cell stiffness and the tracked trajectories. Moreover, the tracking algorithm successfully picked up subtle differences of cell motion when passing through consecutive ridges. The algorithm for accurately tracking cell trajectories paves the way for future efforts of modeling the flow, forces, and dynamics of cell properties in microfluidics applications.

Structuring requirements as necessary premise for customer-oriented development of complex products: A generic approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sandra Klute

2011-10-01

on maintenance have to be observed. Using the model, working with lots of requirements should be facilitated. Thereby, clustering and weighting of requirement should be advanced. Practical implications: For applying the model and handling the great amount of requirements, the model has been implemented for data processing. This allows the stakeholder to easily sort the requirements into the model. Thereby, the system offers many assistance functions which should facilitate the matching for example matching of the same requirement by other stakeholders can be shown or matching of similar requirements. Originality/value: In contrast to the existing structuring methods the developed model is holistic and generic. It allows to capture the stakeholders’ feedback to the requirements fulfilment and hence a comparison between nominal and actual condition. Moreover, it can be applied not only the area of intra-logistics, for which it has been originally developed, but to complex products in general. Even if an adaption of the dimensions’ categories might be necessary.

Modeling the effect of dune sorting on the river long profile

Science.gov (United States)

Blom, A.

2012-12-01

River dunes, which occur in low slope sand bed and sand-gravel bed rivers, generally show a downward coarsening pattern due to grain flows down their avalanche lee faces. These grain flows cause coarse particles to preferentially deposit at lower elevations of the lee face, while fines show a preference for its upper elevations. Before considering the effect of this dune sorting mechanism on the river long profile, let us first have a look at some general trends along the river profile. Tributaries increasing the river's water discharge in streamwise direction also cause a streamwise increase in flow depth. As under subcritical conditions mean dune height generally increases with increasing flow depth, the dune height shows a streamwise increase, as well. This means that also the standard deviation of bedform height increases in streamwise direction, as in earlier work it was found that the standard deviation of bedform height linearly increases with an increasing mean value of bedform height. As a result of this streamwise increase in standard deviation of dune height, the above-mentioned dune sorting then results in a loss of coarse particles to the lower elevations of the bed that are less and even rarely exposed to the flow. This loss of coarse particles to lower elevations thus increases the rate of fining in streamwise direction. As finer material is more easily transported downstream than coarser material, a smaller bed slope is required to transport the same amount of sediment downstream. This means that dune sorting adds to river profile concavity, compared to the combined effect of abrasion, selective transport and tributaries. A Hirano-type mass conservation model is presented that deals with dune sorting. The model includes two active layers: a bedform layer representing the sediment in the bedforms and a coarse layer representing the coarse and less mobile sediment underneath migrating bedforms. The exposure of the coarse layer is governed by the rate

Decision trees with minimum average depth for sorting eight elements

KAUST Repository

AbouEisha, Hassan M.; Chikalov, Igor; Moshkov, Mikhail

2015-01-01

We prove that the minimum average depth of a decision tree for sorting 8 pairwise different elements is equal to 620160/8!. We show also that each decision tree for sorting 8 elements, which has minimum average depth (the number of such trees

Learning sorting algorithms through visualization construction

Science.gov (United States)

Cetin, Ibrahim; Andrews-Larson, Christine

2016-01-01

Recent increased interest in computational thinking poses an important question to researchers: What are the best ways to teach fundamental computing concepts to students? Visualization is suggested as one way of supporting student learning. This mixed-method study aimed to (i) examine the effect of instruction in which students constructed visualizations on students' programming achievement and students' attitudes toward computer programming, and (ii) explore how this kind of instruction supports students' learning according to their self-reported experiences in the course. The study was conducted with 58 pre-service teachers who were enrolled in their second programming class. They expect to teach information technology and computing-related courses at the primary and secondary levels. An embedded experimental model was utilized as a research design. Students in the experimental group were given instruction that required students to construct visualizations related to sorting, whereas students in the control group viewed pre-made visualizations. After the instructional intervention, eight students from each group were selected for semi-structured interviews. The results showed that the intervention based on visualization construction resulted in significantly better acquisition of sorting concepts. However, there was no significant difference between the groups with respect to students' attitudes toward computer programming. Qualitative data analysis indicated that students in the experimental group constructed necessary abstractions through their engagement in visualization construction activities. The authors of this study argue that the students' active engagement in the visualization construction activities explains only one side of students' success. The other side can be explained through the instructional approach, constructionism in this case, used to design instruction. The conclusions and implications of this study can be used by researchers and

Free Sorting and Association Task: A Variant of the Free Sorting Method Applied to Study the Impact of Dried Sourdough as an Ingredienton the Related Bread Odor.

Science.gov (United States)

Pétel, Cécile; Courcoux, Philippe; Génovesi, Noémie; Rouillé, Jocelyn; Onno, Bernard; Prost, Carole

2017-04-01

This paper presents a new variant of the free sorting method developed to analyze the relationship between dried sourdough (DSD) and corresponding DSD-bread (bread) odors. The comparison of DSD and bread sensory characteristics is complicated due to their specific features (for example, acidity for DSD and a characteristic "baked bread" aroma for breads). To analyze them at the same time, this study introduces a new variant of the free sorting method, which adds an association task between DSD and bread after those of free sorting and verbalization. This separation makes it possible to change the product between tasks. It was applied to study the impact of 6 European commercial DSDs on their related DSD-bread. According to our results, this methodology enabled an association between different kinds of products and thus underlined the relationship between them. Moreover, as this methodology contains a verbalization task, it provides product descriptions. Compared with the standard free sorting method, free sorting with an association task gives the distance (i) between DSDs, (ii) between breads, and (iii) between DSDs and breads. The separation of product assessment through sorting and association avoids the separation of products according to their category (DSD or bread). © 2017 Institute of Food Technologists®.

The role of waste sorting in the South African gold-mining industry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Freer, J.S.; Boehme, R.C.

1985-01-01

The absolute potential for sorting waste from run-of-mine Witwatersrand gold ores normally lies between 60 and 90 per cent by mass. At present, the practical potential lies between 40 and 50 per cent. Yet few mines achieve a waste rejection of even 30 per cent. The average waste rejection for industry, including underground sorting, fell from 19,6 per cent in 1959 to 10,1 per cent in 1983, as industry moved from labour-intensive, multistage comminution, incorporating washing, screening, and sorting, to single-stage run-of-mine milling. Most of the sorting is still being done by hand; yet photometric and radiometric sorting machines of high capacity are available. More recently, a sorter based on neutron activation and the subsequent isomeric radioactive decay of gold itself was designed. This paper examines the case for an increased role for sorting in the South African gold-mining industry brought about by the increasing cost of power for milling and the possibility of extracting gold from low-grade reject fractions by heap leaching

Learning banknote fitness for sorting

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Geusebroek, J.M.; Markus, P.; Balke, P.

2011-01-01

In this work, a machine learning method is proposed for banknote soiling determination. We apply proven techniques from computer vision to come up with a robust and effective method for automatic sorting of banknotes. The proposed method is evaluated with respect to various invariance classes. The

Sorting genomes by reciprocal translocations, insertions, and deletions.

Science.gov (United States)

Qi, Xingqin; Li, Guojun; Li, Shuguang; Xu, Ying

2010-01-01

The problem of sorting by reciprocal translocations (abbreviated as SBT) arises from the field of comparative genomics, which is to find a shortest sequence of reciprocal translocations that transforms one genome Pi into another genome Gamma, with the restriction that Pi and Gamma contain the same genes. SBT has been proved to be polynomial-time solvable, and several polynomial algorithms have been developed. In this paper, we show how to extend Bergeron's SBT algorithm to include insertions and deletions, allowing to compare genomes containing different genes. In particular, if the gene set of Pi is a subset (or superset, respectively) of the gene set of Gamma, we present an approximation algorithm for transforming Pi into Gamma by reciprocal translocations and deletions (insertions, respectively), providing a sorting sequence with length at most OPT + 2, where OPT is the minimum number of translocations and deletions (insertions, respectively) needed to transform Pi into Gamma; if Pi and Gamma have different genes but not containing each other, we give a heuristic to transform Pi into Gamma by a shortest sequence of reciprocal translocations, insertions, and deletions, with bounds for the length of the sorting sequence it outputs. At a conceptual level, there is some similarity between our algorithm and the algorithm developed by El Mabrouk which is used to sort two chromosomes with different gene contents by reversals, insertions, and deletions.

Design of monitoring system for mail-sorting based on the Profibus S7 series PLC

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, W.; Jia, S. H.; Wang, Y. H.; Liu, H.; Tang, G. C.

2017-01-01

With the rapid development of the postal express, the workload of mail sorting is increasing, but the automatic technology of mail sorting is not mature enough. In view of this, the system uses Siemens S7-300 PLC as the main station controller, PLC of Siemens S7-200/400 is from the station controller, through the man-machine interface configuration software MCGS, PROFIBUS-DP communication, RFID technology and mechanical sorting hand achieve mail classification sorting monitoring. Among them, distinguish mail-sorting by scanning RFID posted in the mail electronic bar code (fixed code), the system uses the corresponding controller on the acquisition of information processing, the processed information transmit to the sorting manipulator by PROFIBUS-DP. The system can realize accurate and efficient mail sorting, which will promote the development of mail sorting technology.

Flow cytometry sorting of nuclei enables the first global characterization of Paramecium germline DNA and transposable elements.

Science.gov (United States)

Guérin, Frédéric; Arnaiz, Olivier; Boggetto, Nicole; Denby Wilkes, Cyril; Meyer, Eric; Sperling, Linda; Duharcourt, Sandra

2017-04-26

DNA elimination is developmentally programmed in a wide variety of eukaryotes, including unicellular ciliates, and leads to the generation of distinct germline and somatic genomes. The ciliate Paramecium tetraurelia harbors two types of nuclei with different functions and genome structures. The transcriptionally inactive micronucleus contains the complete germline genome, while the somatic macronucleus contains a reduced genome streamlined for gene expression. During development of the somatic macronucleus, the germline genome undergoes massive and reproducible DNA elimination events. Availability of both the somatic and germline genomes is essential to examine the genome changes that occur during programmed DNA elimination and ultimately decipher the mechanisms underlying the specific removal of germline-limited sequences. We developed a novel experimental approach that uses flow cell imaging and flow cytometry to sort subpopulations of nuclei to high purity. We sorted vegetative micronuclei and macronuclei during development of P. tetraurelia. We validated the method by flow cell imaging and by high throughput DNA sequencing. Our work establishes the proof of principle that developing somatic macronuclei can be sorted from a complex biological sample to high purity based on their size, shape and DNA content. This method enabled us to sequence, for the first time, the germline DNA from pure micronuclei and to identify novel transposable elements. Sequencing the germline DNA confirms that the Pgm domesticated transposase is required for the excision of all ~45,000 Internal Eliminated Sequences. Comparison of the germline DNA and unrearranged DNA obtained from PGM-silenced cells reveals that the latter does not provide a faithful representation of the germline genome. We developed a flow cytometry-based method to purify P. tetraurelia nuclei to high purity and provided quality control with flow cell imaging and high throughput DNA sequencing. We identified 61

25 CFR 103.32 - What sort of loan documentation does BIA expect the lender to maintain?

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... other documentation of efforts to liquidate loan collateral; and (i) Originals or copies, as appropriate... 25 Indians 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false What sort of loan documentation does BIA expect the... FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES LOAN GUARANTY, INSURANCE, AND INTEREST SUBSIDY Loan Servicing Requirements § 103.32...

Magnetic fluid equipment for sorting of secondary polyolefins from waste

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Rem, P.C.; Di Maio, F.; Hu, B.; Houzeaux, G.; Baltes, L.; Tierean, M.

2012-01-01

The paper presents the researches made on the FP7 project „Magnetic Sorting and Ultrasound Sensor Technologies for Production of High Purity Secondary Polyolefins from Waste” in order to develop a magnetic fluid equipment for sorting of polypropylene (PP) and polyethylene (PE) from polymers mixed

Asymmetric ring structure of Vps4 required for ESCRT-III disassembly

Science.gov (United States)

Caillat, Christophe; Macheboeuf, Pauline; Wu, Yuanfei; McCarthy, Andrew A.; Boeri-Erba, Elisabetta; Effantin, Gregory; Göttlinger, Heinrich G.; Weissenhorn, Winfried; Renesto, Patricia

2015-12-01

The vacuolar protein sorting 4 AAA-ATPase (Vps4) recycles endosomal sorting complexes required for transport (ESCRT-III) polymers from cellular membranes. Here we present a 3.6-Å X-ray structure of ring-shaped Vps4 from Metallosphera sedula (MsVps4), seen as an asymmetric pseudohexamer. Conserved key interface residues are shown to be important for MsVps4 assembly, ATPase activity in vitro, ESCRT-III disassembly in vitro and HIV-1 budding. ADP binding leads to conformational changes within the protomer, which might propagate within the ring structure. All ATP-binding sites are accessible and the pseudohexamer binds six ATP with micromolar affinity in vitro. In contrast, ADP occupies one high-affinity and five low-affinity binding sites in vitro, consistent with conformational asymmetry induced on ATP hydrolysis. The structure represents a snapshot of an assembled Vps4 conformation and provides insight into the molecular motions the ring structure undergoes in a concerted action to couple ATP hydrolysis to ESCRT-III substrate disassembly.

Protein Sorting Prediction

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Henrik

2017-01-01

and drawbacks of each of these approaches is described through many examples of methods that predict secretion, integration into membranes, or subcellular locations in general. The aim of this chapter is to provide a user-level introduction to the field with a minimum of computational theory.......Many computational methods are available for predicting protein sorting in bacteria. When comparing them, it is important to know that they can be grouped into three fundamentally different approaches: signal-based, global-property-based and homology-based prediction. In this chapter, the strengths...

Sort-Mid tasks scheduling algorithm in grid computing.

Science.gov (United States)

Reda, Naglaa M; Tawfik, A; Marzok, Mohamed A; Khamis, Soheir M

2015-11-01

Scheduling tasks on heterogeneous resources distributed over a grid computing system is an NP-complete problem. The main aim for several researchers is to develop variant scheduling algorithms for achieving optimality, and they have shown a good performance for tasks scheduling regarding resources selection. However, using of the full power of resources is still a challenge. In this paper, a new heuristic algorithm called Sort-Mid is proposed. It aims to maximizing the utilization and minimizing the makespan. The new strategy of Sort-Mid algorithm is to find appropriate resources. The base step is to get the average value via sorting list of completion time of each task. Then, the maximum average is obtained. Finally, the task has the maximum average is allocated to the machine that has the minimum completion time. The allocated task is deleted and then, these steps are repeated until all tasks are allocated. Experimental tests show that the proposed algorithm outperforms almost other algorithms in terms of resources utilization and makespan.

Adaptive differential correspondence imaging based on sorting technique

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Heng Wu

2017-04-01

Full Text Available We develop an adaptive differential correspondence imaging (CI method using a sorting technique. Different from the conventional CI schemes, the bucket detector signals (BDS are first processed by a differential technique, and then sorted in a descending (or ascending order. Subsequently, according to the front and last several frames of the sorted BDS, the positive and negative subsets (PNS are created by selecting the relative frames from the reference detector signals. Finally, the object image is recovered from the PNS. Besides, an adaptive method based on two-step iteration is designed to select the optimum number of frames. To verify the proposed method, a single-detector computational ghost imaging (GI setup is constructed. We experimentally and numerically compare the performance of the proposed method with different GI algorithms. The results show that our method can improve the reconstruction quality and reduce the computation cost by using fewer measurement data.

Anti-Hermitian photodetector facilitating efficient subwavelength photon sorting.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Soo Jin; Kang, Ju-Hyung; Mutlu, Mehmet; Park, Joonsuk; Park, Woosung; Goodson, Kenneth E; Sinclair, Robert; Fan, Shanhui; Kik, Pieter G; Brongersma, Mark L

2018-01-22

The ability to split an incident light beam into separate wavelength bands is central to a diverse set of optical applications, including imaging, biosensing, communication, photocatalysis, and photovoltaics. Entirely new opportunities are currently emerging with the recently demonstrated possibility to spectrally split light at a subwavelength scale with optical antennas. Unfortunately, such small structures offer limited spectral control and are hard to exploit in optoelectronic devices. Here, we overcome both challenges and demonstrate how within a single-layer metafilm one can laterally sort photons of different wavelengths below the free-space diffraction limit and extract a useful photocurrent. This chipscale demonstration of anti-Hermitian coupling between resonant photodetector elements also facilitates near-unity photon-sorting efficiencies, near-unity absorption, and a narrow spectral response (∼ 30 nm) for the different wavelength channels. This work opens up entirely new design paradigms for image sensors and energy harvesting systems in which the active elements both sort and detect photons.

Multi-objective parametric optimization of Inertance type pulse tube refrigerator using response surface methodology and non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm

Science.gov (United States)

Rout, Sachindra K.; Choudhury, Balaji K.; Sahoo, Ranjit K.; Sarangi, Sunil K.

2014-07-01

The modeling and optimization of a Pulse Tube Refrigerator is a complicated task, due to its complexity of geometry and nature. The aim of the present work is to optimize the dimensions of pulse tube and regenerator for an Inertance-Type Pulse Tube Refrigerator (ITPTR) by using Response Surface Methodology (RSM) and Non-Sorted Genetic Algorithm II (NSGA II). The Box-Behnken design of the response surface methodology is used in an experimental matrix, with four factors and two levels. The diameter and length of the pulse tube and regenerator are chosen as the design variables where the rest of the dimensions and operating conditions of the ITPTR are constant. The required output responses are the cold head temperature (Tcold) and compressor input power (Wcomp). Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) have been used to model and solve the ITPTR. The CFD results agreed well with those of the previously published paper. Also using the results from the 1-D simulation, RSM is conducted to analyse the effect of the independent variables on the responses. To check the accuracy of the model, the analysis of variance (ANOVA) method has been used. Based on the proposed mathematical RSM models a multi-objective optimization study, using the Non-sorted genetic algorithm II (NSGA-II) has been performed to optimize the responses.

Time-Efficiency of Sorting Chironomidae Surface-Floating Pupal Exuviae Samples from Urban Trout Streams in Northeast Minnesota, USA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alyssa M Anderson

2012-10-01

Full Text Available Collections of Chironomidae surface-floating pupal exuviae (SFPE provide an effective means of assessing water quality in streams. Although not widely used in the United States, the technique is not new and has been shown to be more cost-efficient than traditional dip-net sampling techniques in organically enriched stream in an urban landscape. The intent of this research was to document the efficiency of sorting SFPE samples relative to dip-net samples in trout streams with catchments varying in amount of urbanization and differences in impervious surface. Samples of both SFPE and dip-nets were collected from 17 sample sites located on 12 trout streams in Duluth, MN, USA. We quantified time needed to sort subsamples of 100 macroinvertebrates from dip-net samples, and less than or greater than 100 chironomid exuviae from SFPE samples. For larger samples of SFPE, the time required to subsample up to 300 exuviae was also recorded. The average time to sort subsamples of 100 specimens was 22.5 minutes for SFPE samples, compared to 32.7 minutes for 100 macroinvertebrates in dip-net samples. Average time to sort up to 300 exuviae was 37.7 minutes. These results indicate that sorting SFPE samples is more time-efficient than traditional dip-net techniques in trout streams with varying catchment characteristics.doi: 10.5324/fn.v31i0.1380.Published online: 17 October 2012.

Experimentation on accuracy of non functional requirement prioritization approaches for different complexity projects

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Raj Kumar Chopra

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Non functional requirements must be selected for implementation together with functional requirements to enhance the success of software projects. Three approaches exist for performing the prioritization of non functional requirements using the suitable prioritization technique. This paper performs experimentation on three different complexity versions of the industrial software project using cost-value prioritization technique employing three approaches. Experimentation is conducted to analyze the accuracy of individual approaches and the variation of accuracy with the complexity of the software project. The results indicate that selecting non functional requirements separately, but in accordance with functionality has higher accuracy amongst the other two approaches. Further, likewise other approaches, it witnesses the decrease in accuracy with increase in software complexity but the decrease is minimal.

Dynamic colloidal sorting on a magnetic bubble lattice

Science.gov (United States)

Tierno, Pietro; Soba, Alejandro; Johansen, Tom H.; Sagués, Francesc

2008-11-01

We use a uniaxial garnet film with a magnetic bubble lattice to sort paramagnetic colloidal particles with different diameters, i.e., 1.0 and 2.8μm. We apply an external magnetic field which precesses around an axis normal to the film with a frequency Ω =62.8s-1 and intensity 3120A/m bubbles while the others are transported through the array. We complement the experimental measurements with numerical simulations to explore the sorting capability for particles with different magnetic moments.

Pre-accretional sorting of grains in the outer solar nebula

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wozniakiewicz, P. J.; Bradley, J. P.; Ishii, H. A.; Price, M. C.; Brownlee, D. E.

2013-01-01

Despite their micrometer-scale dimensions and nanogram masses, chondritic porous interplanetary dust particles (CP IDPs) are an important class of extraterrestrial material since their properties are consistent with a cometary origin and they show no evidence of significant post-accretional parent body alteration. Consequently, they can provide information about grain accretion in the comet-forming region of the outer solar nebula. We have previously reported our comparative study of the sizes and size distributions of crystalline silicate and sulfide grains in CP IDPs, in which we found these components exhibit a size-density relationship consistent with having been sorted together prior to accretion. Here we extend our data set and include GEMS (glass with embedded metal and sulfide), the most abundant amorphous silicate phase observed in CP IDPs. We find that while the silicate and sulfide sorting trend previously observed is maintained, the GEMS size data do not exhibit any clear relationship to these crystalline components. Therefore, GEMS do not appear to have been sorted with the silicate and sulfide crystals. The disparate sorting trends observed in GEMS and the crystalline grains in CP IDPs present an interesting challenge for modeling early transport and accretion processes. They may indicate that several sorting mechanisms operated on these CP IDP components, or alternatively, they may simply be a reflection of different source environments.

Coupling Bacterial Activity Measurements with Cell Sorting by Flow Cytometry.

Science.gov (United States)

Servais; Courties; Lebaron; Troussellier

1999-08-01

> Abstract A new procedure to investigate the relationship between bacterial cell size and activity at the cellular level has been developed; it is based on the coupling of radioactive labeling of bacterial cells and cell sorting by flow cytometry after SYTO 13 staining. Before sorting, bacterial cells were incubated in the presence of tritiated leucine using a procedure similar to that used for measuring bacterial production by leucine incorporation and then stained with SYTO 13. Subpopulations of bacterial cells were sorted according to their average right-angle light scatter (RALS) and fluorescence. Average RALS was shown to be significantly related to the average biovolume. Experiments were performed on samples collected at different times in a Mediterranean seawater mesocosm enriched with nitrogen and phosphorus. At four sampling times, bacteria were sorted in two subpopulations (cells smaller and larger than 0.25 µm(3)). The results indicate that, at each sampling time, the growth rate of larger cells was higher than that of smaller cells. In order to confirm this tendency, cell sorting was performed on six subpopulations differing in average biovolume during the mesocosm follow-up. A clear increase of the bacterial growth rates was observed with increasing cell size for the conditions met in this enriched mesocosm.http://link.springer-ny.com/link/service/journals/00248/bibs/38n2p180.html

Solving multi-objective job shop scheduling problems using a non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm

Science.gov (United States)

Piroozfard, Hamed; Wong, Kuan Yew

2015-05-01

The efforts of finding optimal schedules for the job shop scheduling problems are highly important for many real-world industrial applications. In this paper, a multi-objective based job shop scheduling problem by simultaneously minimizing makespan and tardiness is taken into account. The problem is considered to be more complex due to the multiple business criteria that must be satisfied. To solve the problem more efficiently and to obtain a set of non-dominated solutions, a meta-heuristic based non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm is presented. In addition, task based representation is used for solution encoding, and tournament selection that is based on rank and crowding distance is applied for offspring selection. Swapping and insertion mutations are employed to increase diversity of population and to perform intensive search. To evaluate the modified non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm, a set of modified benchmarking job shop problems obtained from the OR-Library is used, and the results are considered based on the number of non-dominated solutions and quality of schedules obtained by the algorithm.

Automatic Color Sorting System for Hardwood Edge-Glued Panel Parts

Science.gov (United States)

Richard W. Conners; D.Earl Kline; Philip A. Araman

1996-01-01

The color sorting of edge-glued panel parts is becoming more important in the manufacture of hardwood products. Consumers, while admiring the natural appearance of hardwoods, do not like excessive color variation across product surfaces. Color uniformity is particularly important today because of the popularity of lightly stained products. Unfortunately, color sorting...

Card-Sorting Usability Tests of the WMU Libraries' Web Site

Science.gov (United States)

Whang, Michael

2008-01-01

This article describes the card-sorting techniques used by several academic libraries, reports and discusses the results of card-sorting usability tests of the Western Michigan University Libraries' Web site, and reveals how the WMU libraries incorporated the findings into a new Web site redesign, setting the design direction early on. The article…

Integrating water and agricultural management: collaborative governance for a complex policy problem.

Science.gov (United States)

Fish, Rob D; Ioris, Antonio A R; Watson, Nigel M

2010-11-01

This paper examines governance requirements for integrating water and agricultural management (IWAM). The institutional arrangements for the agriculture and water sectors are complex and multi-dimensional, and integration cannot therefore be achieved through a simplistic 'additive' policy process. Effective integration requires the development of a new collaborative approach to governance that is designed to cope with scale dependencies and interactions, uncertainty and contested knowledge, and interdependency among diverse and unequal interests. When combined with interdisciplinary research, collaborative governance provides a viable normative model because of its emphasis on reciprocity, relationships, learning and creativity. Ultimately, such an approach could lead to the sorts of system adaptations and transformations that are required for IWAM. Copyright © 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Widespread Discordance of Gene Trees with Species Tree inDrosophila: Evidence for Incomplete Lineage Sorting

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pollard, Daniel A.; Iyer, Venky N.; Moses, Alan M.; Eisen,Michael B.

2006-08-28

The phylogenetic relationship of the now fully sequencedspecies Drosophila erecta and D. yakuba with respect to the D.melanogaster species complex has been a subject of controversy. All threepossible groupings of the species have been reported in the past, thoughrecent multi-gene studies suggest that D. erecta and D. yakuba are sisterspecies. Using the whole genomes of each of these species as well as thefour other fully sequenced species in the subgenus Sophophora, we set outto investigate the placement of D. erecta and D. yakuba in the D.melanogaster species group and to understand the cause of the pastincongruence. Though we find that the phylogeny grouping D. erecta and D.yakuba together is the best supported, we also find widespreadincongruence in nucleotide and amino acid substitutions, insertions anddeletions, and gene trees. The time inferred to span the two keyspeciation events is short enough that under the coalescent model, theincongruence could be the result of incomplete lineage sorting.Consistent with the lineage-sorting hypothesis, substitutions supportingthe same tree were spatially clustered. Support for the different treeswas found to be linked to recombination such that adjacent genes supportthe same tree most often in regions of low recombination andsubstitutions supporting the same tree are most enriched roughly on thesame scale as linkage disequilibrium, also consistent with lineagesorting. The incongruence was found to be statistically significant androbust to model and species choice. No systematic biases were found. Weconclude that phylogenetic incongruence in the D. melanogaster speciescomplex is the result, at least in part, of incomplete lineage sorting.Incomplete lineage sorting will likely cause phylogenetic incongruence inmany comparative genomics datasets. Methods to infer the correct speciestree, the history of every base in the genome, and comparative methodsthat control for and/or utilize this information will be

Quantum lower bound for sorting

OpenAIRE

Shi, Yaoyun

2000-01-01

We prove that \\Omega(n log(n)) comparisons are necessary for any quantum algorithm that sorts n numbers with high success probability and uses only comparisons. If no error is allowed, at least 0.110nlog_2(n) - 0.067n + O(1) comparisons must be made. The previous known lower bound is \\Omega(n).

Energy efficient data sorting using standard sorting algorithms

KAUST Repository

Bunse, Christian; Hö pfner, Hagen; Roychoudhury, Suman; Mansour, Essam

2011-01-01

Protecting the environment by saving energy and thus reducing carbon dioxide emissions is one of todays hottest and most challenging topics. Although the perspective for reducing energy consumption, from ecological and business perspectives is clear, from a technological point of view, the realization especially for mobile systems still falls behind expectations. Novel strategies that allow (software) systems to dynamically adapt themselves at runtime can be effectively used to reduce energy consumption. This paper presents a case study that examines the impact of using an energy management component that dynamically selects and applies the "optimal" sorting algorithm, from an energy perspective, during multi-party mobile communication. Interestingly, the results indicate that algorithmic performance is not key and that dynamically switching algorithms at runtime does have a significant impact on energy consumption. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2011.

Pilot scale digestion of source-sorted household waste as a tool for evaluation of different pre-sorting and pre-treatment strategies

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Svärd, Å; Gruvberger, C.; Aspegren, H.

2002-01-01

Pilot scale digestion of the organic fraction of source-sorted household waste from Sweden and Denmark was performed during one year. The study includes 17 waste types with differences in originating municipality, housing type, kitchen wrapping, sack type, pre-treatment method and season. The pilot...... scale digestion has been carried out in systems with a 35-litres digester connected to a 77-litres gas tank. Four rounds of digestion were performed including start-up periods, full operation periods for evaluation and post-digestion periods without feeding. Different pre-sorting and pre-treatment...

Sort-Mid tasks scheduling algorithm in grid computing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Naglaa M. Reda

2015-11-01

Full Text Available Scheduling tasks on heterogeneous resources distributed over a grid computing system is an NP-complete problem. The main aim for several researchers is to develop variant scheduling algorithms for achieving optimality, and they have shown a good performance for tasks scheduling regarding resources selection. However, using of the full power of resources is still a challenge. In this paper, a new heuristic algorithm called Sort-Mid is proposed. It aims to maximizing the utilization and minimizing the makespan. The new strategy of Sort-Mid algorithm is to find appropriate resources. The base step is to get the average value via sorting list of completion time of each task. Then, the maximum average is obtained. Finally, the task has the maximum average is allocated to the machine that has the minimum completion time. The allocated task is deleted and then, these steps are repeated until all tasks are allocated. Experimental tests show that the proposed algorithm outperforms almost other algorithms in terms of resources utilization and makespan.

Comparison Of Hybrid Sorting Algorithms Implemented On Different Parallel Hardware Platforms

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dominik Zurek

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Sorting is a common problem in computer science. There are lot of well-known sorting algorithms created for sequential execution on a single processor. Recently, hardware platforms enable to create wide parallel algorithms. We have standard processors consist of multiple cores and hardware accelerators like GPU. The graphic cards with their parallel architecture give new possibility to speed up many algorithms. In this paper we describe results of implementation of a few different sorting algorithms on GPU cards and multicore processors. Then hybrid algorithm will be presented which consists of parts executed on both platforms, standard CPU and GPU.

Sorting processes with energy-constrained comparisons*

Science.gov (United States)

Geissmann, Barbara; Penna, Paolo

2018-05-01

We study very simple sorting algorithms based on a probabilistic comparator model. In this model, errors in comparing two elements are due to (1) the energy or effort put in the comparison and (2) the difference between the compared elements. Such algorithms repeatedly compare and swap pairs of randomly chosen elements, and they correspond to natural Markovian processes. The study of these Markov chains reveals an interesting phenomenon. Namely, in several cases, the algorithm that repeatedly compares only adjacent elements is better than the one making arbitrary comparisons: in the long-run, the former algorithm produces sequences that are "better sorted". The analysis of the underlying Markov chain poses interesting questions as the latter algorithm yields a nonreversible chain, and therefore its stationary distribution seems difficult to calculate explicitly. We nevertheless provide bounds on the stationary distributions and on the mixing time of these processes in several restrictions.

Assessing Incorrect Household Waste Sorting in a Medium-Sized Swedish City

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kamran Rousta

2013-10-01

Full Text Available Source separation is a common method for dealing with the increasing problem of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW in society. The citizens are then responsible for separating waste fractions produced in their home. If the consumers fail to sort the waste according to the source separation scheme, it will lead to an ineffective system. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the environmental, economic and social aspects of incorrect waste sorting in a medium sized Swedish city that has established a source separation system. In order to determine the extent to which citizens correctly sort their waste, food waste (black bags and combustible fraction (white bags, were collected randomly from a residential area and categorized in different waste fractions. The results show that approximately 68 wt% of the waste in the white and 29 wt% in the black bags were not sorted correctly. This incorrect sorting accrues over 13 million SEK per year cost for this community. In order to improve the inhabitants’ participation in the waste management system, it is necessary to change different factors such as convenience and easy access to the recycling stations in the local MSW management systems as well as to review current regulation and policy.

Constructing Efficient Dictionaries in Close to Sorting Time

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ruzic, Milan

2008-01-01

to be a particularly challenging task. We present solutions to the static dictionary problem that significantly improve the previously known upper bounds and bring them close to obvious lower bounds. Our dictionaries have a constant lookup cost and use linear space, which was known to be possible, but the worst......-case cost of construction of the structures is proportional to only loglogn times the cost of sorting the input. Our claimed performance bounds are obtained in the word RAM model and in the external memory models; only the involved sorting procedures in the algorithms need to be changed between the models....

Urban adolescent high-risk sexual behavior: corroboration of focus group discussions through pile-sorting. The AIDS Youth Research Team.

Science.gov (United States)

Stanton, B F; Aronson, R; Borgatti, S; Galbraith, J; Feigelman, S

1993-01-01

Risk activities for acquisition of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) remain prevalent among urban adolescents. While interdisciplinary approaches to examine the variables contributing to risk/protective behaviors have been promoted, strategies for such explorations require further formulation. Recently we employed focus group discussions to explore factors placing urban adolescents at risk for engaging in HIV risk behaviors. The focus group format enables substantial interaction on a topic in a limited time period, but does not always provide expression of the full range of behavioral options. In this study we investigated the use of pile-sorts for confirmation of impressions from focus group discussions among 57 urban youths aged 10-14. The pile-sorts revealed some support for most of the views expressed in the group discussions. However, the sorts revealed more variability in views than was expressed in the group discussions. Substantial gender and age-based differences in perceptions were revealed with potentially important intervention implications.

Regulation of P2Y1 receptor traffic by sorting Nexin 1 is retromer independent.

Science.gov (United States)

Nisar, Shaista; Kelly, Eamonn; Cullen, Pete J; Mundell, Stuart J

2010-04-01

The activity and traffic of G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) is tightly controlled. Recent work from our laboratory has shown that P2Y(1) and P2Y(12) responsiveness is rapidly and reversibly modulated in human platelets and that the underlying mechanism requires receptor trafficking as an essential part of this process. However, little is known about the molecular mechanisms underlying P2Y receptor traffic. Sorting nexin 1 (SNX1) has been shown to regulate the endosomal sorting of cell surface receptors either to lysosomes where they are downregulated or back to the cell surface. These functions may in part be due to interactions of SNX1 with the mammalian retromer complex. In this study, we investigated the role of SNX1 in P2Y receptor trafficking. We show that P2Y(1) receptors recycle via a slow recycling pathway that is regulated by SNX1, whereas P2Y(12) receptors return to the cell surface via a rapid route that is SNX1 independent. SNX1 inhibition caused a dramatic increase in the rate of P2Y(1) receptor recycling, whereas inhibition of Vps26 and Vps35 known to be present in retromer had no effect, indicating that SNX1 regulation of P2Y(1) receptor recycling is retromer independent. In addition, inhibition of SNX4, 6 and 17 proteins did not affect P2Y(1) receptor recycling. SNX1 has also been implicated in GPCR degradation; however, we provide evidence that P2Y receptor degradation is SNX1 independent. These data describe a novel function of SNX1 in the regulation of P2Y(1) receptor recycling and suggest that SNX1 plays multiple roles in endocytic trafficking of GPCRs.

A mower detector to judge soil sorting

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bramlitt, E.T.; Johnson, N.R.

1995-01-01

Thermo Nuclear Services (TNS) has developed a mower detector as an inexpensive and fast means for deciding potential value of soil sorting for cleanup. It is a shielded detector box on wheels pushed over the ground (as a person mows grass) at 30 ft/min with gamma-ray counts recorded every 0.25 sec. It mirror images detection by the TNS transportable sorter system which conveys soil at 30 ft/min and toggles a gate to send soil on separate paths based on counts. The mower detector shows if contamination is variable and suitable for sorting, and by unique calibration sources, it indicates detection sensitivity. The mower detector has been used to characterize some soil at Department of Energy sites in New Jersey and South Carolina

A mower detector to judge soil sorting

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bramlitt, E.T.; Johnson, N.R. [Thermo Nuclear Services, Inc., Albuquerque, NM (United States)

1995-12-31

Thermo Nuclear Services (TNS) has developed a mower detector as an inexpensive and fast means for deciding potential value of soil sorting for cleanup. It is a shielded detector box on wheels pushed over the ground (as a person mows grass) at 30 ft/min with gamma-ray counts recorded every 0.25 sec. It mirror images detection by the TNS transportable sorter system which conveys soil at 30 ft/min and toggles a gate to send soil on separate paths based on counts. The mower detector shows if contamination is variable and suitable for sorting, and by unique calibration sources, it indicates detection sensitivity. The mower detector has been used to characterize some soil at Department of Energy sites in New Jersey and South Carolina.

Support for designing waste sorting systems: A mini review.

Science.gov (United States)

Rousta, Kamran; Ordoñez, Isabel; Bolton, Kim; Dahlén, Lisa

2017-11-01

This article presents a mini review of research aimed at understanding material recovery from municipal solid waste. It focuses on two areas, waste sorting behaviour and collection systems, so that research on the link between these areas could be identified and evaluated. The main results presented and the methods used in the articles are categorised and appraised. The mini review reveals that most of the work that offered design guidelines for waste management systems was based on optimising technical aspects only. In contrast, most of the work that focused on user involvement did not consider developing the technical aspects of the system, but was limited to studies of user behaviour. The only clear consensus among the articles that link user involvement with the technical system is that convenient waste collection infrastructure is crucial for supporting source separation. This mini review reveals that even though the connection between sorting behaviour and technical infrastructure has been explored and described in some articles, there is still a gap when using this knowledge to design waste sorting systems. Future research in this field would benefit from being multidisciplinary and from using complementary methods, so that holistic solutions for material recirculation can be identified. It would be beneficial to actively involve users when developing sorting infrastructures, to be sure to provide a waste management system that will be properly used by them.

6. Algorithms for Sorting and Searching

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

Home; Journals; Resonance – Journal of Science Education; Volume 2; Issue 3. Algorithms - Algorithms for Sorting and Searching. R K Shyamasundar. Series Article ... Author Affiliations. R K Shyamasundar1. Computer Science Group, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Homi Bhabha Road, Mumbai 400 005, India ...

A spike sorting toolbox for up to thousands of electrodes validated with ground truth recordings in vitro and in vivo

Science.gov (United States)

Lefebvre, Baptiste; Deny, Stéphane; Gardella, Christophe; Stimberg, Marcel; Jetter, Florian; Zeck, Guenther; Picaud, Serge; Duebel, Jens

2018-01-01

In recent years, multielectrode arrays and large silicon probes have been developed to record simultaneously between hundreds and thousands of electrodes packed with a high density. However, they require novel methods to extract the spiking activity of large ensembles of neurons. Here, we developed a new toolbox to sort spikes from these large-scale extracellular data. To validate our method, we performed simultaneous extracellular and loose patch recordings in rodents to obtain ‘ground truth’ data, where the solution to this sorting problem is known for one cell. The performance of our algorithm was always close to the best expected performance, over a broad range of signal-to-noise ratios, in vitro and in vivo. The algorithm is entirely parallelized and has been successfully tested on recordings with up to 4225 electrodes. Our toolbox thus offers a generic solution to sort accurately spikes for up to thousands of electrodes. PMID:29557782

A Framework for the Comparative Assessment of Neuronal Spike Sorting Algorithms towards More Accurate Off-Line and On-Line Microelectrode Arrays Data Analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Regalia, Giulia; Coelli, Stefania; Biffi, Emilia; Ferrigno, Giancarlo; Pedrocchi, Alessandra

2016-01-01

Neuronal spike sorting algorithms are designed to retrieve neuronal network activity on a single-cell level from extracellular multiunit recordings with Microelectrode Arrays (MEAs). In typical analysis of MEA data, one spike sorting algorithm is applied indiscriminately to all electrode signals. However, this approach neglects the dependency of algorithms' performances on the neuronal signals properties at each channel, which require data-centric methods. Moreover, sorting is commonly performed off-line, which is time and memory consuming and prevents researchers from having an immediate glance at ongoing experiments. The aim of this work is to provide a versatile framework to support the evaluation and comparison of different spike classification algorithms suitable for both off-line and on-line analysis. We incorporated different spike sorting "building blocks" into a Matlab-based software, including 4 feature extraction methods, 3 feature clustering methods, and 1 template matching classifier. The framework was validated by applying different algorithms on simulated and real signals from neuronal cultures coupled to MEAs. Moreover, the system has been proven effective in running on-line analysis on a standard desktop computer, after the selection of the most suitable sorting methods. This work provides a useful and versatile instrument for a supported comparison of different options for spike sorting towards more accurate off-line and on-line MEA data analysis.

Engineering quadrupole magnetic flow sorting for the isolation of pancreatic islets

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kennedy, David J. [IKOtech, LLC, 3130 Highland Avenue, 3rd Floor, Cincinnati, OH 45219-2374 (United States)]. E-mail: David.Kennedy@IKOtech.com; Todd, Paul [SHOT, Inc., Greenville, IN (United States); Logan, Sam [SHOT, Inc., Greenville, IN (United States); Becker, Matthew [SHOT, Inc., Greenville, IN (United States); Papas, Klearchos K. [Diabetes Institute for Immunology and Transplantation, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN (United States); Moore, Lee R. [Biomedical Engineering Department, Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Cleveland, OH (United States)

2007-04-15

Quadrupole magnetic flow sorting (QMS) is being adapted from the separation of suspensions of single cells (<15 {mu}m) to the isolation of pancreatic islets (150-350 {mu}m) for transplant. To achieve this goal, the critical QMS components have been modeled and engineered to optimize the separation process. A flow channel has been designed, manufactured, and tested. The quadrupole magnet assembly has been designed and verified by finite element analysis. Pumps have been selected and verified by test. Test data generated from the pumps and flow channel demonstrate that the fabricated channel and peristaltic pumps fulfill the requirements of successful QMS separation.

Engineering quadrupole magnetic flow sorting for the isolation of pancreatic islets

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kennedy, David J.; Todd, Paul; Logan, Sam; Becker, Matthew; Papas, Klearchos K.; Moore, Lee R.

2007-01-01

Quadrupole magnetic flow sorting (QMS) is being adapted from the separation of suspensions of single cells (<15 μm) to the isolation of pancreatic islets (150-350 μm) for transplant. To achieve this goal, the critical QMS components have been modeled and engineered to optimize the separation process. A flow channel has been designed, manufactured, and tested. The quadrupole magnet assembly has been designed and verified by finite element analysis. Pumps have been selected and verified by test. Test data generated from the pumps and flow channel demonstrate that the fabricated channel and peristaltic pumps fulfill the requirements of successful QMS separation

Grain-size sorting in grainflows at the lee side of deltas

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kleinhans, M.G.

2005-01-01

The sorting of sediment mixtures at the lee slope of deltas (at the angle of repose) is studied with experiments in a narrow, deep flume with subaqueous Gilbert-type deltas using varied flow conditions and different sediment mixtures. Sediment deposition and sorting on the lee slope of the delta

Replication Improves Sorting-Task Results Analyzed by DISTATIS in a Consumer Study of American Bourbon and Rye Whiskeys.

Science.gov (United States)

Lahne, Jacob; Collins, Thomas S; Heymann, Hildegarde

2016-05-01

In consumer food-sensory studies, sorting and closely related methods (for example, projective mapping) have often been applied to large product sets which are complex and fatiguing for panelists. Analysis of sorting by Multi-Dimensional Scaling (MDS) is common, but this method discards relevant individual decisions; analysis by DISTATIS, which accounts for individual differences, is gaining acceptance. This research posits that replication can improve DISTATIS analysis by stabilizing consumer sensory maps, which are often extremely unstable. As a case study a fatiguing product set was sorted: 10 American whiskeys-5 bourbons and 5 ryes-were sorted into groups by 21 consumers over 2 replications. These products were chosen because American whiskeys are some of the most important distilled beverages in today's market; in particular, "bourbon" (mashbill more than 50% corn) and "rye" (more than 50% rye) whiskeys are important and assumed to be products with distinct sensory attributes. However, there is almost no scientific information about their sensory properties. Data were analyzed using standard and aggregated DISTATIS and MDS. No significant relationship between mashbill and consumer categorization in whiskeys was found; instead, there was evidence of producer and aging effects. aggregated DISTATIS was found to provide more stable results than without replication, and DISTATIS results provided a number of benefits over MDS, including bootstrapped confidence intervals for product separation. In addition, this is the first published evidence that mashbill does not determine sensory properties of American whiskey: bourbons and ryes, while legally distinct, were not separated by consumers. © 2016 Institute of Food Technologists®

Unsupervised neural spike sorting for high-density microelectrode arrays with convolutive independent component analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Leibig, Christian; Wachtler, Thomas; Zeck, Günther

2016-09-15

Unsupervised identification of action potentials in multi-channel extracellular recordings, in particular from high-density microelectrode arrays with thousands of sensors, is an unresolved problem. While independent component analysis (ICA) achieves rapid unsupervised sorting, it ignores the convolutive structure of extracellular data, thus limiting the unmixing to a subset of neurons. Here we present a spike sorting algorithm based on convolutive ICA (cICA) to retrieve a larger number of accurately sorted neurons than with instantaneous ICA while accounting for signal overlaps. Spike sorting was applied to datasets with varying signal-to-noise ratios (SNR: 3-12) and 27% spike overlaps, sampled at either 11.5 or 23kHz on 4365 electrodes. We demonstrate how the instantaneity assumption in ICA-based algorithms has to be relaxed in order to improve the spike sorting performance for high-density microelectrode array recordings. Reformulating the convolutive mixture as an instantaneous mixture by modeling several delayed samples jointly is necessary to increase signal-to-noise ratio. Our results emphasize that different cICA algorithms are not equivalent. Spike sorting performance was assessed with ground-truth data generated from experimentally derived templates. The presented spike sorter was able to extract ≈90% of the true spike trains with an error rate below 2%. It was superior to two alternative (c)ICA methods (≈80% accurately sorted neurons) and comparable to a supervised sorting. Our new algorithm represents a fast solution to overcome the current bottleneck in spike sorting of large datasets generated by simultaneous recording with thousands of electrodes. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Trapping, focusing, and sorting of microparticles through bubble streaming

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Cheng; Jalikop, Shreyas; Hilgenfeldt, Sascha

2010-11-01

Ultrasound-driven oscillating microbubbles can set up vigorous steady streaming flows around the bubbles. In contrast to previous work, we make use of the interaction between the bubble streaming and the streaming induced around mobile particles close to the bubble. Our experiment superimposes a unidirectional Poiseuille flow containing a well-mixed suspension of neutrally buoyant particles with the bubble streaming. The particle-size dependence of the particle-bubble interaction selects which particles are transported and which particles are trapped near the bubbles. The sizes selected for can be far smaller than any scale imposed by the device geometry, and the selection mechanism is purely passive. Changing the amplitude and frequency of ultrasound driving, we can further control focusing and sorting of the trapped particles, leading to the emergence of sharply defined monodisperse particle streams within a much wider channel. Optimizing parameters for focusing and sorting are presented. The technique is applicable in important fields like cell sorting and drug delivery.

Magnet sorting algorithms for insertion devices for the Advanced Light Source

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Humphries, D.; Hoyer, E.; Kincaid, B.; Marks, S.; Schlueter, R.

1994-01-01

Insertion devices for the Advanced Light Source (ALS) incorporate up to 3,000 magnet blocks each for pole energization. In order to minimize field errors, these magnets must be measured, sorted and assigned appropriate locations and orientation in the magnetic structures. Sorting must address multiple objectives, including pole excitation and minimization of integrated multipole fields from minor field components in the magnets. This is equivalent to a combinatorial minimization problem with a large configuration space. Multi-stage sorting algorithms use ordering and pairing schemes in conjunction with other combinatorial methods to solve the minimization problem. This paper discusses objective functions, solution algorithms and results of application to magnet block measurement data

A Proposed Analytical Model for Integrated Pick-and-Sort Systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Recep KIZILASLAN

2013-11-01

Full Text Available In this study we present an analytical approach for integration of order picking and sortation operations which are the most important, labour intensive and costly activity for warehouses. Main aim is to investigate order picking and sorting efficiencies under different design issues as a function of order wave size. Integrated analytical model is proposed to estimate the optimum order picking and order sortation efficiency. The model, which has been tested by simulations with different illustrative examples, calculates the optimum wave size that solves the trade-off between picking and sorting operations and makes the order picking and sortations efficiency maximum. Our model also allow system designer to predict the order picking and sorting capacity for different system configurations. This study presents an innovative approach for integrated warehouse operations.

The CD3 gamma leucine-based receptor-sorting motif is required for efficient ligand-mediated TCR down-regulation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

von Essen, Marina; Menné, Charlotte; Nielsen, Bodil L

2002-01-01

. The other pathway is dependent on protein kinase C (PKC)-mediated activation of the CD3 gamma di-leucine-based receptor-sorting motif. Previous studies have failed to demonstrate a connection between ligand- and PKC-induced TCR down-regulation. Thus, although an apparent paradox, the dogma has been...... that ligand- and PKC-induced TCR down-regulations are not interrelated. By analyses of a newly developed CD3 gamma-negative T cell variant, freshly isolated and PHA-activated PBMC, and a mouse T cell line, we challenged this dogma and demonstrate in this work that PKC activation and the CD3 gamma di...

Neural spike sorting using iterative ICA and a deflation-based approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Tiganj, Z; Mboup, M

2012-12-01

We propose a spike sorting method for multi-channel recordings. When applied in neural recordings, the performance of the independent component analysis (ICA) algorithm is known to be limited, since the number of recording sites is much lower than the number of neurons. The proposed method uses an iterative application of ICA and a deflation technique in two nested loops. In each iteration of the external loop, the spiking activity of one neuron is singled out and then deflated from the recordings. The internal loop implements a sequence of ICA and sorting for removing the noise and all the spikes that are not fired by the targeted neuron. Then a final step is appended to the two nested loops in order to separate simultaneously fired spikes. We solve this problem by taking all possible pairs of the sorted neurons and apply ICA only on the segments of the signal during which at least one of the neurons in a given pair was active. We validate the performance of the proposed method on simulated recordings, but also on a specific type of real recordings: simultaneous extracellular-intracellular. We quantify the sorting results on the extracellular recordings for the spikes that come from the neurons recorded intracellularly. The results suggest that the proposed solution significantly improves the performance of ICA in spike sorting.

Self-Complexity, Daily Events, and Perceived Quality of Life.

Science.gov (United States)

Kardash, CarolAnne M.; Okun, Morris A.

Recent research has demonstrated that self-cognitions can play an important role in physical and emotional well-being. One important aspect of self-cognition concerns the complexity of self-representations. This study tested the hypothesis that self-complexity, as assessed by Linville's self-trait sorting task, would moderate the effects of…

Design and construction of automatic sorting station with machine vision

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Oscar D. Velasco-Delgado

2014-01-01

Full Text Available This article presents the design, construction and testing of an automatic product sorting system in belt conveyor with machine vision that integrates Free and Open Source Software technology and Allen Bradley commercial equipment. Requirements are defined to determine features such as: mechanics of manufacturing station, an app of product sorting with machine vision and for automation system. For the app of machine vision a library is used for optical digital image processing Open CV, for the mechanical design of the manufacturing station is used the CAD tool Solid Edge and for the design and implementation of automation ISA standards are used along with an automation engineering project methodology integrating a PLC, an inverter, a Panel View and a DeviceNet Network. Performance tests are shown by classifying bottles and PVC pieces in four established types, the behavior of the integrated system is checked so as the efficiency of the same. The processing time on machine vision is 0.290 s on average for a piece of PVC, a capacity of 206 accessories per minute, for bottles was obtained a processing time of 0.267 s, a capacity of 224 bottles per minute. A maximum mechanical performance is obtained with 32 products per minute (1920 products/hour with the conveyor to 22 cm/s and 40 cm of distance between products obtaining an average error of 0.8%.

Faster magnet sorting with a threshold acceptance algorithm

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lidia, S.; Carr, R.

1995-01-01

We introduce here a new technique for sorting magnets to minimize the field errors in permanent magnet insertion devices. Simulated annealing has been used in this role, but we find the technique of threshold acceptance produces results of equal quality in less computer time. Threshold accepting would be of special value in designing very long insertion devices, such as long free electron lasers (FELs). Our application of threshold acceptance to magnet sorting showed that it converged to equivalently low values of the cost function, but that it converged significantly faster. We present typical cases showing time to convergence for various error tolerances, magnet numbers, and temperature schedules

Faster magnet sorting with a threshold acceptance algorithm

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lidia, S.

1994-08-01

The authors introduce here a new technique for sorting magnets to minimize the field errors in permanent magnet insertion devices. Simulated annealing has been used in this role, but they find the technique of threshold acceptance produces results of equal quality in less computer time. Threshold accepting would be of special value in designing very long insertion devices, such as long FEL's. Their application of threshold acceptance to magnet sorting showed that it converged to equivalently low values of the cost function, but that it converged significantly faster. They present typical cases showing time to convergence for various error tolerances, magnet numbers, and temperature schedules

Nuclear localization of Schizosaccharomyces pombe Mcm2/Cdc19p requires MCM complex assembly.

Science.gov (United States)

Pasion, S G; Forsburg, S L

1999-12-01

The minichromosome maintenance (MCM) proteins MCM2-MCM7 are conserved eukaryotic replication factors that assemble in a heterohexameric complex. In fission yeast, these proteins are nuclear throughout the cell cycle. In studying the mechanism that regulates assembly of the MCM complex, we analyzed the cis and trans elements required for nuclear localization of a single subunit, Mcm2p. Mutation of any single mcm gene leads to redistribution of wild-type MCM subunits to the cytoplasm, and this redistribution depends on an active nuclear export system. We identified the nuclear localization signal sequences of Mcm2p and showed that these are required for nuclear targeting of other MCM subunits. In turn, Mcm2p must associate with other MCM proteins for its proper localization; nuclear localization of MCM proteins thus requires assembly of MCM proteins in a complex. We suggest that coupling complex assembly to nuclear targeting and retention ensures that only intact heterohexameric MCM complexes remain nuclear.

Sorting of a HaloTag protein that has only a signal peptide sequence into exocrine secretory granules without protein aggregation.

Science.gov (United States)

Fujita-Yoshigaki, Junko; Matsuki-Fukushima, Miwako; Yokoyama, Megumi; Katsumata-Kato, Osamu

2013-11-15

The mechanism involved in the sorting and accumulation of secretory cargo proteins, such as amylase, into secretory granules of exocrine cells remains to be solved. To clarify that sorting mechanism, we expressed a reporter protein HaloTag fused with partial sequences of salivary amylase protein in primary cultured parotid acinar cells. We found that a HaloTag protein fused with only the signal peptide sequence (Met(1)-Ala(25)) of amylase, termed SS25H, colocalized well with endogenous amylase, which was confirmed by immunofluorescence microscopy. Percoll-density gradient centrifugation of secretory granule fractions shows that the distributions of amylase and SS25H were similar. These results suggest that SS25H is transported to secretory granules and is not discriminated from endogenous amylase by the machinery that functions to remove proteins other than granule cargo from immature granules. Another reporter protein, DsRed2, that has the same signal peptide sequence also colocalized with amylase, suggesting that the sorting to secretory granules is not dependent on a characteristic of the HaloTag protein. Whereas Blue Native PAGE demonstrates that endogenous amylase forms a high-molecular-weight complex, SS25H does not participate in the complex and does not form self-aggregates. Nevertheless, SS25H was released from cells by the addition of a β-adrenergic agonist, isoproterenol, which also induces amylase secretion. These results indicate that addition of the signal peptide sequence, which is necessary for the translocation in the endoplasmic reticulum, is sufficient for the transportation and storage of cargo proteins in secretory granules of exocrine cells.

A Fully Automated Approach to Spike Sorting.

Science.gov (United States)

Chung, Jason E; Magland, Jeremy F; Barnett, Alex H; Tolosa, Vanessa M; Tooker, Angela C; Lee, Kye Y; Shah, Kedar G; Felix, Sarah H; Frank, Loren M; Greengard, Leslie F

2017-09-13

Understanding the detailed dynamics of neuronal networks will require the simultaneous measurement of spike trains from hundreds of neurons (or more). Currently, approaches to extracting spike times and labels from raw data are time consuming, lack standardization, and involve manual intervention, making it difficult to maintain data provenance and assess the quality of scientific results. Here, we describe an automated clustering approach and associated software package that addresses these problems and provides novel cluster quality metrics. We show that our approach has accuracy comparable to or exceeding that achieved using manual or semi-manual techniques with desktop central processing unit (CPU) runtimes faster than acquisition time for up to hundreds of electrodes. Moreover, a single choice of parameters in the algorithm is effective for a variety of electrode geometries and across multiple brain regions. This algorithm has the potential to enable reproducible and automated spike sorting of larger scale recordings than is currently possible. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The N-terminal domains of Vps3 and Vps8 are critical for localization and function of the CORVET tethering complex on endosomes.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nadine Epp

Full Text Available Endosomal biogenesis depends on multiple fusion and fission events. For fusion, the heterohexameric CORVET complex as an effector of the endosomal Rab5/Vps21 GTPase has a central function in the initial tethering event. Here, we show that the CORVET-specific Vps3 and Vps8 subunits, which interact with Rab5/Vps21, require their N-terminal domains for localization and function. Surprisingly, CORVET may lack either one of the two N-terminal domains, but not both, to promote protein sorting via the endosome. The dually truncated complex mislocalizes to the cytosol and is impaired in endocytic protein sorting, but not in assembly. Furthermore, the endosomal localization can be rescued by overexpression of Vps21 or one of the truncated CORVET subunits, even though CORVET assembly is not impaired by loss of the N-terminal domains or in strains lacking all endosomal Rab5s and Ypt7. We thus conclude that CORVET requires only its C-terminal domains for assembly and has beyond its putative β-propeller domains additional binding sites for endosomes, which could be important to bind Vps21 and other endosome-specific factors for efficient endosome tethering.

Effect of increasing the level of alfalfa hay in finishing beef heifer diets on intake, sorting, and feeding behavior.

Science.gov (United States)

Madruga, A; González, L A; Mainau, E; Ruíz de la Torre, J L; Rodríguez-Prado, M; Manteca, X; Ferret, A

2018-02-15

Eight rumen cannulated Simmental heifers (BW = 281.4 ± 7.28 kg) were randomly assigned to one of four experimental treatments in a 4 × 4 replicated Latin square design to ascertain the effects of increasing levels of alfalfa hay on intake, sorting, and feeding behavior in comparison to barley straw as forage source. Treatments tested were four total mixed rations with: 1) 10% barley straw (10BS) with 7.0% NDF from forage, 2) 13% alfalfa hay (13AH) and less NDF from forage (5.7%) than 10BS, 3) 16% alfalfa hay (16AH) and the same NDF from forage (7.0%) as 10BS, and 4) 19% alfalfa hay (19AH) and more NDF from forage (8.3%) than 10BS. Each experimental period consisted of 3 wk for adaptation and 1 wk for sampling. Increasing the proportion of alfalfa hay in the diet linearly increased (P comparison to the 10BS diet. In the same way, intake of long, medium, and short particle size was greater in this diet. Moreover, heifers fed 19AH sorted for medium particle size and tended to sort for long and short particles size, and against fine particle size. Sorting behavior and meal length increased in the 19AH diet, which leads us to think that sorting feed ingredients requires time and therefore lengthens the meal. Time spent ruminating was greater in heifers fed 19AH, thus reducing the risk of ruminal acidosis when animals are fed high concentrate diets.

Identification and sorting of materials with portable LIBS before decommissioning

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vors, Evelyne; Sirven, Jean-Baptiste; Dehayem-Massop, Alix; Gallou, Guillaume

2016-01-01

Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) is a technique of elemental analysis. A laser beam is focused on the surface of the sample to be analyzed. A small quantity of matter is ablated and a plasma formed by the atomized compounds is created. The spectral lines of the light emitted by the plasma are detected by an optical spectrometer. LIBS is a fully optical, multi-elementary and fast analytical technique, requiring no or little sample preparation. These features make the LIBS technique particularly suited for in situ measurements, and portable instruments are currently developed. LIBS analysis can be applied to the identification of materials using chemometric statistical methods (multivariate analysis) connecting the spectrum to the nature of the sample. Such methods have been successfully applied in our laboratory to the determination of the geographical origin of yellow cakes and to the identification of alloys. We present here the work performed with a portable LIBS instrument to meet the needs of waste sorting in industrial domain and in nuclear domain (inventory before decommissioning). A data base of LIBS spectra was built with a commercial instrument (IVEA SAS Easylibs) with samples of four categories of interest for industrial waste sorting: alloys, plastics, concrete and glasses. Different correct identification rates are requested by categories. The alloy spectra contain characteristic spectral lines and sub-categories can be easily discriminated (for example, different steel classes can be identified). The components of the plastics (mainly C, H, O and N) give rise to less characteristic lines and the plastics identification requires a separate study. Supervised statistical models are built with the data base spectra and predictions are instantly calculated for the spectra of unknown materials to identify in order to direct them to the correct waste stream. (authors)

Supplemental design requirements document solid waste operations complex

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ocampo, V.P.; Boothe, G.F.; Broz, D.R.; Eaton, H.E.; Greager, T.M.; Huckfeldt, R.A.; Kooiker, S.L.; Lamberd, D.L.; Lang, L.L.; Myers, J.B.

1994-11-01

This document provides additional and supplemental information to the WHC-SD-W112-FDC-001, WHC-SD-W113-FDC-001, and WHC-SD-W100-FDC-001. It provides additional requirements for the design and summarizes Westinghouse Hanford Company key design guidance and establishes the technical baseline agreements to be used for definitive design common to the Solid Waste Operations Complex (SWOC) Facilities (Project W-112, Project W-113, and WRAP 2A)

A real-time spike sorting method based on the embedded GPU.

Science.gov (United States)

Zelan Yang; Kedi Xu; Xiang Tian; Shaomin Zhang; Xiaoxiang Zheng

2017-07-01

Microelectrode arrays with hundreds of channels have been widely used to acquire neuron population signals in neuroscience studies. Online spike sorting is becoming one of the most important challenges for high-throughput neural signal acquisition systems. Graphic processing unit (GPU) with high parallel computing capability might provide an alternative solution for increasing real-time computational demands on spike sorting. This study reported a method of real-time spike sorting through computing unified device architecture (CUDA) which was implemented on an embedded GPU (NVIDIA JETSON Tegra K1, TK1). The sorting approach is based on the principal component analysis (PCA) and K-means. By analyzing the parallelism of each process, the method was further optimized in the thread memory model of GPU. Our results showed that the GPU-based classifier on TK1 is 37.92 times faster than the MATLAB-based classifier on PC while their accuracies were the same with each other. The high-performance computing features of embedded GPU demonstrated in our studies suggested that the embedded GPU provide a promising platform for the real-time neural signal processing.

Aminopeptidase N is directly sorted to the apical domain in MDCK cells

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Wessels, H P; Hansen, Gert Helge; Fuhrer, C

1990-01-01

In different epithelial cell types, integral membrane proteins appear to follow different sorting pathways to the apical surface. In hepatocytes, several apical proteins were shown to be transported there indirectly via the basolateral membrane, whereas in MDCK cells a direct sorting pathway from...

A polynomial-time algorithm to design push plans for sensorless parts sorting

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Berg, de M.; Goaoc, X.; van der Stappen, A.F.

2005-01-01

We consider the efficient computation of sequences of push actions that simultaneously orient two different polygons. Our motivation for studying this problem comes from the observation that appropriately oriented parts admit simple sensorless sorting. We study the sorting of two polygonal parts by

Enabling Requirements-Based Programming for Highly-Dependable Complex Parallel and Distributed Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Hinchey, Michael G.; Rash, James L.; Rouff, Christopher A.

2005-01-01

The manual application of formal methods in system specification has produced successes, but in the end, despite any claims and assertions by practitioners, there is no provable relationship between a manually derived system specification or formal model and the customer's original requirements. Complex parallel and distributed system present the worst case implications for today s dearth of viable approaches for achieving system dependability. No avenue other than formal methods constitutes a serious contender for resolving the problem, and so recognition of requirements-based programming has come at a critical juncture. We describe a new, NASA-developed automated requirement-based programming method that can be applied to certain classes of systems, including complex parallel and distributed systems, to achieve a high degree of dependability.

Gender Differences in Sorting

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Merlino, Luca Paolo; Parrotta, Pierpaolo; Pozzoli, Dario

and causing the most productive female workers to seek better jobs in more female-friendly firms in which they can pursue small career advancements. Nonetheless, gender differences in promotion persist and are found to be similar in all firms when we focus on large career advancements. These results provide......In this paper, we investigate the sorting of workers in firms to understand gender gaps in labor market outcomes. Using Danish employer-employee matched data, we fiend strong evidence of glass ceilings in certain firms, especially after motherhood, preventing women from climbing the career ladder...

An Evaluation of the Critical Factors Affecting the Efficiency of Some Sorting Techniques

OpenAIRE

Olabiyisi S.O.; Adetunji A.B.; Oyeyinka F.I.

2013-01-01

Sorting allows information or data to be put into a meaningful order. As efficiency is a major concern of computing, data are sorted in order to gain the efficiency in retrieving or searching tasks. The factors affecting the efficiency of shell, Heap, Bubble, Quick and Merge sorting techniques in terms of running time, memory usage and the number of exchanges were investigated. Experiment was conducted for the decision variables generated from algorithms implemented in Java programming and fa...

77 FR 50726 - Software Requirement Specifications for Digital Computer Software and Complex Electronics Used in...

Science.gov (United States)

2012-08-22

... Computer Software and Complex Electronics Used in Safety Systems of Nuclear Power Plants AGENCY: Nuclear...-1209, ``Software Requirement Specifications for Digital Computer Software and Complex Electronics used... Electronics Engineers (ANSI/IEEE) Standard 830-1998, ``IEEE Recommended Practice for Software Requirements...

Image analysis to measure sorting and stratification applied to sand-gravel experiments

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Orrú, C.

2016-01-01

The main objective of this project is to develop new measuring techniques for providing detailed data on sediment sorting suitable for sand-gravel laboratory experiments. Such data will be of aid in obtaining new insights on sorting mechanisms and improving prediction capabilities of morphodynamic

Self-sorting of guests and hard blocks in bisurea-based thermoplastic elastomers

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Botterhuis, N.E.; Karthikeyan, S.; Spiering, A.J.H.; Sijbesma, R.P.

2010-01-01

Self-sorting in thermoplastic elastomers was studied using bisurea-based thermoplastic elastomers (TPEs) which are known to form hard blocks via hierarchical aggregation of bisurea segments into ribbons and of ribbons into fibers. Self-sorting of different bisurea hard blocks in mixtures of polymers

Spatial sorting promotes the spread of maladaptive hybridization

Science.gov (United States)

Lowe, Winsor H.; Muhlfeld, Clint C.; Allendorf, Fred W.

2015-01-01

Invasive hybridization is causing loss of biodiversity worldwide. The spread of such introgression can occur even when hybrids have reduced Darwinian fitness, which decreases the frequency of hybrids due to low survival or reproduction through time. This paradox can be partially explained by spatial sorting, where genotypes associated with dispersal increase in frequency at the edge of expansion, fueling further expansion and allowing invasive hybrids to increase in frequency through space rather than time. Furthermore, because all progeny of a hybrid will be hybrids (i.e., will possess genes from both parental taxa), nonnative admixture in invaded populations can increase even when most hybrid progeny do not survive. Broader understanding of spatial sorting is needed to protect native biodiversity.

Colour based sorting station with Matlab simulation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Constantin Victor

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The paper presents the design process and manufacturing elements of a colour-based sorting station. The system is comprised of a gravitational storage, which also contains the colour sensor. Parts are extracted using a linear pneumatic motor and are fed onto an electrically driven conveyor belt. Extraction of the parts is done at 4 points, using two pneumatic motors and a geared DC motor, while the 4th position is at the end of the belt. The mechanical parts of the system are manufactured using 3D printer technology, allowing for easy modification and adaption to the geometry of different parts. The paper shows all of the stages needed to design, optimize, test and implement the proposed solution. System optimization was performed using a graphical Matlab interface which also allows for sorting algorithm optimization.

Efficient Sorting on the Tilera Manycore Architecture

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Morari, Alessandro; Tumeo, Antonino; Villa, Oreste; Secchi, Simone; Valero, Mateo

2012-10-24

e present an efficient implementation of the radix sort algo- rithm for the Tilera TILEPro64 processor. The TILEPro64 is one of the first successful commercial manycore processors. It is com- posed of 64 tiles interconnected through multiple fast Networks- on-chip and features a fully coherent, shared distributed cache. The architecture has a large degree of flexibility, and allows various optimization strategies. We describe how we mapped the algorithm to this architecture. We present an in-depth analysis of the optimizations for each phase of the algorithm with respect to the processor’s sustained performance. We discuss the overall throughput reached by our radix sort implementation (up to 132 MK/s) and show that it provides comparable or better performance-per-watt with respect to state-of-the art implemen- tations on x86 processors and graphic processing units.

Polar localization of Escherichia coli chemoreceptors requires an intact Tol–Pal complex

Science.gov (United States)

Santos, Thiago M. A.; Lin, Ti-Yu; Rajendran, Madhusudan; Anderson, Samantha M.; Weibel, Douglas B.

2014-01-01

Summary Subcellular biomolecular localization is critical for the metabolic and structural properties of the cell. The functional implications of the spatiotemporal distribution of protein complexes during the bacterial cell cycle have long been acknowledged; however, the molecular mechanisms for generating and maintaining their dynamic localization in bacteria are not completely understood. Here we demonstrate that the trans-envelope Tol–Pal complex, a widely conserved component of the cell envelope of Gram-negative bacteria, is required to maintain the polar positioning of chemoreceptor clusters in Escherichia coli. Localization of the chemoreceptors was independent of phospholipid composition of the membrane and the curvature of the cell wall. Instead, our data indicate that chemoreceptors interact with components of the Tol–Pal complex and that this interaction is required to polarly localize chemoreceptor clusters. We found that disruption of the Tol–Pal complex perturbs the polar localization of chemoreceptors, alters cell motility, and affects chemotaxis. We propose that the E. coli Tol–Pal complex restricts mobility of the chemoreceptor clusters at the cell poles and may be involved in regulatory mechanisms that co-ordinate cell division and segregation of the chemosensory machinery. PMID:24720726

Application of sperm sorting and associated reproductive technology for wildlife management and conservation.

Science.gov (United States)

O'Brien, J K; Steinman, K J; Robeck, T R

2009-01-01

Efforts toward the conservation and captive breeding of wildlife can be enhanced by sperm sorting and associated reproductive technologies such as sperm cryopreservation and artificial insemination (AI). Sex ratio management is of particular significance to species which naturally exist in female-dominated social groups. A bias of the sex ratio towards females of these species will greatly assist in maintaining socially cohesive groups and minimizing male-male aggression. Another application of this technology potentially exists for endangered species, as the preferential production of females can enable propagation of those species at a faster rate. The particular assisted reproductive technology (ART) used in conjunction with sperm sorting for the production of offspring is largely determined by the quality and quantity of spermatozoa following sorting and preservation processes. Regardless of the ART selected, breeding decisions involving sex-sorted spermatozoa should be made in conjunction with appropriate genetic management. Zoological-based research on reproductive physiology and assisted reproduction, including sperm sorting, is being conducted on numerous terrestrial and marine mammals. The wildlife species for which the technology has undergone the most advance is the bottlenose dolphin. AI using sex-sorted fresh or frozen-thawed spermatozoa has become a valuable tool for the genetic and reproductive management of captive bottlenose dolphins with six pre-sexed calves, all of the predetermined sex born to date.

The Methods and Goals of Teaching Sorting Algorithms in Public Education

Science.gov (United States)

Bernát, Péter

2014-01-01

The topic of sorting algorithms is a pleasant subject of informatics education. Not only is it so because the notion of sorting is well known from our everyday life, but also because as an algorithm task, whether we expect naive or practical solutions, it is easy to define and demonstrate. In my paper I will present some of the possible methods…

Mimicking Faraday rotation to sort the orbital angular momentum of light.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Wuhong; Qi, Qianqian; Zhou, Jie; Chen, Lixiang

2014-04-18

The efficient separation of the orbital angular momentum (OAM) is essential to both the classical and quantum applications with twisted photons. Here we devise and demonstrate experimentally an efficient method of mimicking the Faraday rotation to sort the OAM based on the OAM-to-polarization coupling effect induced by a modified Mach-Zehnder interferometer. Our device is capable of sorting the OAM of positive and negative numbers, as well as their mixtures. Furthermore, we report the first experimental demonstration to sort optical vortices of noninteger charges. The possibility of working at the photon-count level is also shown using an electron-multiplying CCD camera. Our scheme holds promise for quantum information applications with single-photon entanglement and for high-capacity communication systems with polarization and OAM multiplexing.

Integration through a Card-Sort Activity

Science.gov (United States)

Green, Kris; Ricca, Bernard P.

2015-01-01

Learning to compute integrals via the various techniques of integration (e.g., integration by parts, partial fractions, etc.) is difficult for many students. Here, we look at how students in a college level Calculus II course develop the ability to categorize integrals and the difficulties they encounter using a card sort-resort activity. Analysis…

A note on sorting buffrs offline

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Chan, H.L.; Megow, N.; Sitters, R.A.; van Stee, R.

2012-01-01

We consider the offline sorting buffer problem. The input is a sequence of items of different types. All items must be processed one by one by a server. The server is equipped with a random-access buffer of limited capacity which can be used to rearrange items. The problem is to design a scheduling

Position Control Method For Pick And Place Robot Arm For Object Sorting System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Khin Moe Myint

2015-08-01

Full Text Available The more increase the number of industries in developing countries the more require labourers or workers in that. To reduce the cost of labour force and to increase the manufacturing capacity of industries the advanced robot arms are more needed. The aim of this journal is to eliminate the manual control for object sorting system.Robot arm design in this research uses two joints three links and servo motors to drive. Microcontroller is used to generate required PWM signal for servo motors. In this research the position control of robot arm was designed by using kinematic control methods. There are two types of kinematic control methods which are forward and reverse kinematic methods. In forward kinematic method the input parameters are the joint angles and link length of robot arm and then the output is the position at XYZ coordinate of tool or gripper. In inverse kinematic the input parameters are position at XYZ coordinate of gripper and the link length of robot arm and then the output parameters are the joint angles. So kinematic methods can explain the analytical description of the geometry motion of the manipulator with reference to a robot coordinate system fixed to a frame without consideration of the forces or the moments causing the movements. For sorting system Metal detector is used to detect the metal or non-metal. This position control of pick and place robot arm is fully tested and the result is obtained more precisely.

Relevance-aware filtering of tuples sorted by an attribute value via direct optimization of search quality metrics

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Spirin, N.V.; Kuznetsov, M.; Kiseleva, Y.; Spirin, Y.V.; Izhutov, P.A.

2015-01-01

Sorting tuples by an attribute value is a common search scenario and many search engines support such capabilities, e.g. price-based sorting in e-commerce, time-based sorting on a job or social media website. However, sorting purely by the attribute value might lead to poor user experience because

School accountability Incentives or sorting?

OpenAIRE

Hege Marie Gjefsen; Trude Gunnes

2015-01-01

We exploit a nested school accountability reform to estimate the causal effect on teacher mobility, sorting, and student achievement. In 2003, lower-secondary schools in Oslo became accountable to the school district authority for student achievement. In 2005, information on school performance in lower secondary education also became public. Using a difference-in-difference-in-difference approach, we find a significant increase in teacher mobility and that almost all non-stayers leave the tea...

Sorting, Searching, and Simulation in the MapReduce Framework

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Goodrich, Michael T.; Sitchinava, Nodari; Zhang, Qin

2011-01-01

usefulness of our approach by designing and analyzing efficient MapReduce algorithms for fundamental sorting, searching, and simulation problems. This study is motivated by a goal of ultimately putting the MapReduce framework on an equal theoretical footing with the well-known PRAM and BSP parallel...... in parallel computational geometry for the MapReduce framework, which result in efficient MapReduce algorithms for sorting, 2- and 3-dimensional convex hulls, and fixed-dimensional linear programming. For the case when mappers and reducers have a memory/message-I/O size of M = (N), for a small constant > 0...

AMDLIBGZ, IBM 360 Subroutine Library for Data Processing, Graphics, Sorting

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang, Jesse Y.

1980-01-01

Description of problem or function: AMDLIBGZ is a subset of the IBM 360 Subroutine Library at the Applied Mathematics Division at Argonne National Laboratory. This subset includes library categories G-Z: Identification/Description: G552S F RANF: Random number generator; J952S F YOLYPLOT: CalComp plots; J955S P GRAF: Prints a graph of points on line printer; K250S A1: Core to core conversion; K251S A HEXINP: Hexadecimal input for PL/I programs; K252S A HEXOUT: Hexadecimal output conv. PL/I programs; M101S F SORT: Algebraic sort; M150S F CSORT: Algebraic sort; M151S P2 ANLKWIC: KWIC sort; M250S A SMALLIST: Squeezes assembler listing to 8 x 11; N251S A ABEND: Calls ABEND dump; Q052S A CLOCK: Time; Q053S A COPYAGO: Copy load module from tape to disk; Q054S A DATE: Current date in form MM/DD/YY; Q055S A TIME: Time (24 hour clock) in EBCDIC HH.MM.SS; Z013S F: Variable metric minimization; Z057S A LOCF: Locate machine addresses of variables; Z071S A ALLOC: Allocate LCS for FORTRAN programs; Z074S A ANLMNP: Exponent and mantissa manipulative functs.

Superrenormalizable quantum gravity with complex ghosts

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Leonardo Modesto

2016-04-01

Full Text Available We suggest and briefly review a new sort of superrenormalizable models of higher derivative quantum gravity. The higher derivative terms in the action can be introduced in such a way that all the unphysical massive states have complex poles. According to the literature on Lee–Wick quantization, in this case the theory can be formulated as unitary, since all massive ghosts-like degrees of freedom are unstable. Keywords: Quantum gravity, Higher derivatives, Complex poles

Smoothsort, an alternative for sorting in situ

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Dijkstra, E.W.

1982-01-01

Like heapsort - which inspired it - smoothsort is an algorithm for sorting in situ. It is of order N · log N in the worst case, but of order N in the best case, with a smooth transition between the two. (Hence its name.)

In-flight Sorting of BNNTs by Aspect Ratio

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — The key technical challenges are: (a) mechanical sorting is ineffective for nanoscale product, (b) BNNTs are non-conductive and the agglomeration tendency is strong,...

System for optical sorting of microscopic objects

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

2014-01-01

The present invention relates to a system for optical sorting of microscopic objects and corresponding method. An optical detection system (52) is capable of determining the positions of said first and/or said second objects. One or more force transfer units (200, 205, 210, 215) are placed...... in a first reservoir, the one or more force units being suitable for optical momentum transfer. An electromagnetic radiation source (42) yields a radiation beam (31, 32) capable of optically displacing the force transfer units from one position to another within the first reservoir (1R). The force transfer...... units are displaced from positions away from the first objects to positions close to the first objects, and then displacing the first objects via a contact force (300) between the first objects and the force transfer units facilitates an optical sorting of the first objects and the second objects....

Size and density sorting of dust grains in SPH simulations of protoplanetary discs

Science.gov (United States)

Pignatale, F. C.; Gonzalez, J.-F.; Cuello, Nicolas; Bourdon, Bernard; Fitoussi, Caroline

2017-07-01

The size and density of dust grains determine their response to gas drag in protoplanetary discs. Aerodynamical (size × density) sorting is one of the proposed mechanisms to explain the grain properties and chemical fractionation of chondrites. However, the efficiency of aerodynamical sorting and the location in the disc in which it could occur are still unknown. Although the effects of grain sizes and growth in discs have been widely studied, a simultaneous analysis including dust composition is missing. In this work, we present the dynamical evolution and growth of multicomponent dust in a protoplanetary disc using a 3D, two-fluid (gas+dust) smoothed particle hydrodynamics code. We find that the dust vertical settling is characterized by two phases: a density-driven phase that leads to a vertical chemical sorting of dust and a size-driven phase that enhances the amount of lighter material in the mid-plane. We also see an efficient radial chemical sorting of the dust at large scales. We find that dust particles are aerodynamically sorted in the inner disc. The disc becomes sub-solar in its Fe/Si ratio on the surface since the early stage of evolution but sub-solar Fe/Si can be also found in the outer disc-mid-plane at late stages. Aggregates in the disc mimic the physical and chemical properties of chondrites, suggesting that aerodynamical sorting played an important role in determining their final structure.

Comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography/time-of-flight mass spectrometry peak sorting algorithm.

Science.gov (United States)

Oh, Cheolhwan; Huang, Xiaodong; Regnier, Fred E; Buck, Charles; Zhang, Xiang

2008-02-01

We report a novel peak sorting method for the two-dimensional gas chromatography/time-of-flight mass spectrometry (GC x GC/TOF-MS) system. The objective of peak sorting is to recognize peaks from the same metabolite occurring in different samples from thousands of peaks detected in the analytical procedure. The developed algorithm is based on the fact that the chromatographic peaks for a given analyte have similar retention times in all of the chromatograms. Raw instrument data are first processed by ChromaTOF (Leco) software to provide the peak tables. Our algorithm achieves peak sorting by utilizing the first- and second-dimension retention times in the peak tables and the mass spectra generated during the process of electron impact ionization. The algorithm searches the peak tables for the peaks generated by the same type of metabolite using several search criteria. Our software also includes options to eliminate non-target peaks from the sorting results, e.g., peaks of contaminants. The developed software package has been tested using a mixture of standard metabolites and another mixture of standard metabolites spiked into human serum. Manual validation demonstrates high accuracy of peak sorting with this algorithm.

A new technology for automatic identification and sorting of plastics for recycling.

Science.gov (United States)

Ahmad, S R

2004-10-01

A new technology for automatic sorting of plastics, based upon optical identification of fluorescence signatures of dyes, incorporated in such materials in trace concentrations prior to product manufacturing, is described. Three commercial tracers were selected primarily on the basis of their good absorbency in the 310-370 nm spectral band and their identifiable narrow-band fluorescence signatures in the visible band of the spectrum when present in binary combinations. This absorption band was selected because of the availability of strong emission lines in this band from a commercial Hg-arc lamp and high fluorescence quantum yields of the tracers at this excitation wavelength band. The plastics chosen for tracing and identification are HDPE, LDPE, PP, EVA, PVC and PET and the tracers were compatible and chemically non-reactive with the host matrices and did not affect the transparency of the plastics. The design of a monochromatic and collimated excitation source, the sensor system are described and their performances in identifying and sorting plastics doped with tracers at a few parts per million concentration levels are evaluated. In an industrial sorting system, the sensor was able to sort 300 mm long plastic bottles at a conveyor belt speed of 3.5 m.sec(-1) with a sorting purity of -95%. The limitation was imposed due to mechanical singulation irregularities at high speed and the limited processing speed of the computer used.

How to develop a Standard Operating Procedure for sorting unfixed cells

Science.gov (United States)

Schmid, Ingrid

2012-01-01

Written Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) are an important tool to assure that recurring tasks in a laboratory are performed in a consistent manner. When the procedure covered in the SOP involves a high-risk activity such as sorting unfixed cells using a jet-in-air sorter, safety elements are critical components of the document. The details on sort sample handling, sorter set-up, validation, operation, troubleshooting, and maintenance, personal protective equipment (PPE), and operator training, outlined in the SOP are to be based on careful risk assessment of the procedure. This review provides background information on the hazards associated with sorting of unfixed cells and the process used to arrive at the appropriate combination of facility design, instrument placement, safety equipment, and practices to be followed. PMID:22381383

How to develop a standard operating procedure for sorting unfixed cells.

Science.gov (United States)

Schmid, Ingrid

2012-07-01

Written standard operating procedures (SOPs) are an important tool to assure that recurring tasks in a laboratory are performed in a consistent manner. When the procedure covered in the SOP involves a high-risk activity such as sorting unfixed cells using a jet-in-air sorter, safety elements are critical components of the document. The details on sort sample handling, sorter set-up, validation, operation, troubleshooting, and maintenance, personal protective equipment (PPE), and operator training, outlined in the SOP are to be based on careful risk assessment of the procedure. This review provides background information on the hazards associated with sorting of unfixed cells and the process used to arrive at the appropriate combination of facility design, instrument placement, safety equipment, and practices to be followed. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A probability-based multi-cycle sorting method for 4D-MRI: A simulation study.

Science.gov (United States)

Liang, Xiao; Yin, Fang-Fang; Liu, Yilin; Cai, Jing

2016-12-01

To develop a novel probability-based sorting method capable of generating multiple breathing cycles of 4D-MRI images and to evaluate performance of this new method by comparing with conventional phase-based methods in terms of image quality and tumor motion measurement. Based on previous findings that breathing motion probability density function (PDF) of a single breathing cycle is dramatically different from true stabilized PDF that resulted from many breathing cycles, it is expected that a probability-based sorting method capable of generating multiple breathing cycles of 4D images may capture breathing variation information missing from conventional single-cycle sorting methods. The overall idea is to identify a few main breathing cycles (and their corresponding weightings) that can best represent the main breathing patterns of the patient and then reconstruct a set of 4D images for each of the identified main breathing cycles. This method is implemented in three steps: (1) The breathing signal is decomposed into individual breathing cycles, characterized by amplitude, and period; (2) individual breathing cycles are grouped based on amplitude and period to determine the main breathing cycles. If a group contains more than 10% of all breathing cycles in a breathing signal, it is determined as a main breathing pattern group and is represented by the average of individual breathing cycles in the group; (3) for each main breathing cycle, a set of 4D images is reconstructed using a result-driven sorting method adapted from our previous study. The probability-based sorting method was first tested on 26 patients' breathing signals to evaluate its feasibility of improving target motion PDF. The new method was subsequently tested for a sequential image acquisition scheme on the 4D digital extended cardiac torso (XCAT) phantom. Performance of the probability-based and conventional sorting methods was evaluated in terms of target volume precision and accuracy as measured

Active remodelling of the TIM23 complex during translocation of preproteins into mitochondria.

Science.gov (United States)

Popov-Celeketić, Dusan; Mapa, Koyeli; Neupert, Walter; Mokranjac, Dejana

2008-05-21

The TIM23 (translocase of the mitochondrial inner membrane) complex mediates translocation of preproteins across and their insertion into the mitochondrial inner membrane. How the translocase mediates sorting of preproteins into the two different subcompartments is poorly understood. In particular, it is not clear whether association of two operationally defined parts of the translocase, the membrane-integrated part and the import motor, depends on the activity state of the translocase. We established conditions to in vivo trap the TIM23 complex in different translocation modes. Membrane-integrated part of the complex and import motor were always found in one complex irrespective of whether an arrested preprotein was present or not. Instead, we detected different conformations of the complex in response to the presence and, importantly, the type of preprotein being translocated. Two non-essential subunits of the complex, Tim21 and Pam17, modulate its activity in an antagonistic manner. Our data demonstrate that the TIM23 complex acts as a single structural and functional entity that is actively remodelled to sort preproteins into different mitochondrial subcompartments.

The impact of social threat cues on a card sorting task with attentional-shifting demands.

Science.gov (United States)

Mohlman, Jan; DeVito, Alyssa

2017-12-01

The current study investigated social anxiety and attentional control using two versions of a task designed to tap intentional shifting of attention and set switching: the standard Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST; Heaton, 1981) and a modified version that included emotionally salient pictorial stimuli, the Emotional Faces Card Sorting Test (EFCST). A Group (lower-, higher-SPS) by Condition (WCST, EFCST) by Sorting Rule (color, form, number) interaction was expected in which the higher-SPS EFCST group would have worse overall performance and make more perseverative errors than the other groups. No differences were predicted on nonperseverative errors, which are typically caused by brief attentional lapses. Participants were 80 undergraduate students who scored in the upper and lower quartile of the distribution on the Social Phobia Scale (SPS; Mattick & Clarke, 1998) were randomly assigned to complete either the WCST or EFCST. On the WCST, the higher-SPS group showed performance similar to that of the lower-SPS group. On the EFCST, the higher-SPS group evidenced more perseverative errors in the condition that depicted angry faces. Interpretations based on a non-clinical sample limit the generalisability of the conclusions. Reliability of this new measure has yet to be established. Successful completion of the WCST requires more than set-shifting processes. These results suggest that the higher-SPS group in the EFCST condition might have had trouble disengaging attention from threat-related cues, despite ongoing corrective feedback. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Help the planet by sorting your waste!

CERN Multimedia

2012-01-01

Paper and cardboard waste comes in various forms, from newspapers to the toughest cardboard. Every year CERN dispatches about 200 tonnes of paper and cardboard to a recycling plant, but this is still too little when you take into consideration the tonnes of paper and cardboard that are still thrown out as part of ordinary rubbish or are incorrectly sorted into other rubbish skips.   Each office is equipped with a wastepaper bin, and a paper and cardboard container is available near every building. Cardboard boxes should be folded before they are placed in the containers in order to save space. Please note: Here are some sobering statistics: - 2 to 3 tonnes of wood pulp are required to manufacture 1 tonne of paper. - Each tonne of recycled paper means that we can save approximately 15 trees and substantial amounts of the water that is needed to extract cellulose (60 litres of water per kilo of paper). - A production of 100% recycled paper represents a 90% saving in water. - 5000 kWh of e...

Raman tweezers in microfluidic systems for analysis and sorting of living cells

Science.gov (United States)

Pilát, Zdeněk.; Ježek, Jan; Kaňka, Jan; Zemánek, Pavel

2014-12-01

We have devised an analytical and sorting system combining optical trapping with Raman spectroscopy in microfluidic environment, dedicated to identification and sorting of biological objects, such as living cells of various unicellular organisms. Our main goal was to create a robust and universal platform for non-destructive and non-contact sorting of micro-objects based on their Raman spectral properties. This approach allowed us to collect spectra containing information about the chemical composition of the objects, such as the presence and composition of pigments, lipids, proteins, or nucleic acids, avoiding artificial chemical probes such as fluorescent markers. The non-destructive nature of this optical analysis and manipulation allowed us to separate individual living cells of our interest in a sterile environment and provided the possibility to cultivate the selected cells for further experiments. We used a mixture of polystyrene micro-particles and algal cells to test and demonstrate the function of our analytical and sorting system. The devised system could find its use in many medical, biotechnological, and biological applications.

New designs in the reconstruction of coke-sorting systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

A.S. Larin; V.V. Demenko; V.L. Voitanik [Giprokoks, the State Institute for the Design of Coke-Industry Enterprises, Kharkov (Ukraine)

2009-07-15

In recent Giprokoks designs for the reconstruction of coke-sorting systems, high-productivity vibrational-inertial screens have been employed. This permits single-stage screening and reduction in capital and especially operating expenditures, without loss of coke quality. In two-stage screening, >80 mm coke (for foundry needs) is additionally separated, with significant improvement in quality of the metallurgical coke (25-80 mm). New designs for the reconstruction of coke-sorting systems employ mechanical treatment of the coke outside the furnace, which offers new scope for stabilization of coke quality and permits considerable improvement in mechanical strength and granulometric composition of the coke by mechanical crushing.

Effect of early exposure to different feed presentations on feed sorting of dairy calves.

Science.gov (United States)

Miller-Cushon, E K; Bergeron, R; Leslie, K E; Mason, G J; Devries, T J

2013-07-01

This study examined how early exposure to different feed presentations affects development of feed sorting in dairy calves. Twenty Holstein bull calves were exposed for the first 8 wk of life to 1 of 2 feed presentation treatments: concentrate and chopped grass hay (haylage, 21.5% high-moisture corn, and 16.0% protein supplement) in wk 12 to 13. Intake was recorded daily and calves were weighed twice a week. Fresh feed and orts were sampled on d 1 to 4 of wk 6, 8, 9, 11, 12, and 13 for analysis of feed sorting, which was assessed through nutrient analysis for the MIX diet and particle size analysis for the TMR. The particle separator had 3 screens (19, 8, and 1.18mm) producing long, medium, short, and fine particle fractions. Sorting of nutrients or particle fractions was calculated as the actual intake as a percentage of predicted intake; values >100% indicate sorting for, whereas values <100% indicate sorting against. Feed presentation did not affect dry matter intake or growth. Prior to weaning, all calves selected in favor of hay; MIX calves consumed more neutral detergent fiber (NDF) than predicted (103.6%) and less nonfiber carbohydrates (NFC) than predicted (92.6%), and COM calves consumed, as a percentage of dry matter intake, 40.3% hay (vs. 30% offered rate). In wk 8, calves fed COM consumed more NFC than calves fed MIX (1.0 vs. 0.95kg/d) and less NDF (0.43 vs. 0.54kg/d), indicating greater selection in favor of concentrate. However, when provided the MIX diet, calves previously fed COM did not sort, whereas calves previously fed MIX consumed more NFC intake than predicted (103.2%) and less NDF intake than predicted (97.6%). Calves previously fed MIX maintained increased sorting after transition to the novel TMR, sorting against long particles (86.5%) and for short (101.8%) and fine (101.2%) particles. These results indicate that initially providing dairy calves with solid feeds as separate components, compared with as a mixed ration, reduces the extent of

Sorting cells of the microalga Chlorococcum littorale with increased triacylglycerol productivity.

Science.gov (United States)

Cabanelas, Iago Teles Dominguez; van der Zwart, Mathijs; Kleinegris, Dorinde M M; Wijffels, René H; Barbosa, Maria J

2016-01-01

Despite extensive research in the last decades, microalgae are still only economically feasible for high valued markets. Strain improvement is a strategy to increase productivities, hence reducing costs. In this work, we focus on microalgae selection: taking advantage of the natural biological variability of species to select variations based on desired characteristics. We focused on triacylglycerol (TAG), which have applications ranging from biodiesel to high-value omega-3 fatty-acids. Hence, we demonstrated a strategy to sort microalgae cells with increased TAG productivity. 1. We successfully identified sub-populations of cells with increased TAG productivity using Fluorescence assisted cell sorting (FACS). 2. We sequentially sorted cells after repeated cycles of N-starvation, resulting in five sorted populations (S1-S5). 3. The comparison between sorted and original populations showed that S5 had the highest TAG productivity [0.34 against 0.18 g l(-1) day(-1) (original), continuous light]. 4. Original and S5 were compared in lab-scale reactors under simulated summer conditions confirming the increased TAG productivity of S5 (0.4 against 0.2 g l(-1) day(-1)). Biomass composition analyses showed that S5 produced more biomass under N-starvation because of an increase only in TAG content and, flow cytometry showed that our selection removed cells with lower efficiency in producing TAGs. All combined, our results present a successful strategy to improve the TAG productivity of Chlorococcum littorale, without resourcing to genetic manipulation or random mutagenesis. Additionally, the improved TAG productivity of S5 was confirmed under simulated summer conditions, highlighting the industrial potential of S5 for microalgal TAG production.

A Novel and Simple Spike Sorting Implementation.

Science.gov (United States)

Petrantonakis, Panagiotis C; Poirazi, Panayiota

2017-04-01

Monitoring the activity of multiple, individual neurons that fire spikes in the vicinity of an electrode, namely perform a Spike Sorting (SS) procedure, comprises one of the most important tools for contemporary neuroscience in order to reverse-engineer the brain. As recording electrodes' technology rabidly evolves by integrating thousands of electrodes in a confined spatial setting, the algorithms that are used to monitor individual neurons from recorded signals have to become even more reliable and computationally efficient. In this work, we propose a novel framework of the SS approach in which a single-step processing of the raw (unfiltered) extracellular signal is sufficient for both the detection and sorting of the activity of individual neurons. Despite its simplicity, the proposed approach exhibits comparable performance with state-of-the-art approaches, especially for spike detection in noisy signals, and paves the way for a new family of SS algorithms with the potential for multi-recording, fast, on-chip implementations.

The effect of transverse bed slope and sediment mobility on bend sorting

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Weisscher, S.A.H.; Baar, A.W.; Uijttewaal, W.S.J.; Kleinhans, MG

2017-01-01

Lateral sorting (= bend sorting) is observed in  natural meanders, where the inner and outer  bend are fairly fine and coarse, respectively  (e.g. Julien and Anthony, 2002; Clayton and  Pitlick, 2007). This is caused by the mass  differences between grains on a

Robust spike sorting of retinal ganglion cells tuned to spot stimuli.

Science.gov (United States)

Ghahari, Alireza; Badea, Tudor C

2016-08-01

We propose an automatic spike sorting approach for the data recorded from a microelectrode array during visual stimulation of wild type retinas with tiled spot stimuli. The approach first detects individual spikes per electrode by their signature local minima. With the mixture probability distribution of the local minima estimated afterwards, it applies a minimum-squared-error clustering algorithm to sort the spikes into different clusters. A template waveform for each cluster per electrode is defined, and a number of reliability tests are performed on it and its corresponding spikes. Finally, a divisive hierarchical clustering algorithm is used to deal with the correlated templates per cluster type across all the electrodes. According to the measures of performance of the spike sorting approach, it is robust even in the cases of recordings with low signal-to-noise ratio.

REDUCTION IN CUTS SPEED AT THE BEGINNING OF A SORTING SIDINGS, EQUIPPED WITH QUASI-CONTINUOUS SPEED CONTROL SYSTEM

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

O. A. Nazarov

2016-08-01

Full Text Available Purpose. Clear and uninterrupted operation of humps depends on the quality of technical equipment and control technology of cuts speed. Technology of interval and purposive regulation of cuts speed is used at most humps. The article discusses ways to reduce the cuts rolling speed to a safe level at the beginning of the sorting sidings equipped with quasi-continuous speed control system. Methodology. It proposed three fundamentally different ways to reduce the cuts rolling speed at the beginning of the sorting siding. The analysis of the ways to reduce cuts rolling speed to a safe level at the beginning of the sorting sidings was conducted using simulation the process of cuts rolling from humps equipped with quasi-continuous speed control. Findings. As a result of analysis, the inappropriateness of opposite elevation using on the roll-out part of the hump after the last separation switch point. Spot regulators of cars speed can be used to reduce the cuts rolling speed at the beginning of the sorting siding, but this leads to a division conditions deterioration on the last separating switch points of long cuts with the following after them short cuts. Reducing the cuts rolling speed at the beginning of the sorting siding can be carried out using the beam on a stationary wagon retarders park brake position. Control Algorithm park brake position is quite simple. All produce should be unhooked from it at a safe speed. If the accuracy of the implementation of the set speed output to unhook from the park brake position is low, it is possible to eliminate the error of point regulators cars speed. Originality. The question where to start location point of wagon retarders zone to reduce speed to cut level requires additional research. Reducing rolling cut the speed at the beginning of the sorting sidings can be carried out using the beam on a stationary wagon retarders park brake position. Practical value. Control Algorithm park brake position is quite

Long term estimates for sorting strategies of the LHC dipoles

CERN Document Server

Scandale, Walter; Giovannozzi, Massimo; Todesco, Ezio

1998-01-01

Sorting strategies are investigated in view of improving the dynamic aperture of the CERN-LHC. Local and quasi-local compensation of the random field shape imperfections are discussed and applied to simplified model of the LHC lattice. The most promising strategies are further investigated on a realistic LHC model with particular emphasis on the analysis of the robustness of the dynamic aperture improvements including long term effects. First results on the application of the recently developed extrapolation law for the prediction of the dynamic aperture to the sorting problem are presented.

Generic sorting of raft lipids into secretory vesicles in yeast

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Surma, Michal A; Klose, Christian; Klemm, Robin W

2011-01-01

Previous work has showed that ergosterol and sphingolipids become sorted to secretory vesicles immunoisolated using a chimeric, artificial raft membrane protein as bait. In this study, we have extended this analysis to three populations of secretory vesicles isolated using natural yeast plasma...... a complete lipid overview of the yeast late secretory pathway. We could show that vesicles captured with different baits carry the same cargo and have almost identical lipid compositions; being highly enriched in ergosterol and sphingolipids. This finding indicates that lipid raft sorting is a generic...

Synthesis of models for order-sorted first-order theories using linear algebra and constraint solving

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Salvador Lucas

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Recent developments in termination analysis for declarative programs emphasize the use of appropriate models for the logical theory representing the program at stake as a generic approach to prove termination of declarative programs. In this setting, Order-Sorted First-Order Logic provides a powerful framework to represent declarative programs. It also provides a target logic to obtain models for other logics via transformations. We investigate the automatic generation of numerical models for order-sorted first-order logics and its use in program analysis, in particular in termination analysis of declarative programs. We use convex domains to give domains to the different sorts of an order-sorted signature; we interpret the ranked symbols of sorted signatures by means of appropriately adapted convex matrix interpretations. Such numerical interpretations permit the use of existing algorithms and tools from linear algebra and arithmetic constraint solving to synthesize the models.

Development of the Biology Card Sorting Task to Measure Conceptual Expertise in Biology

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Julia I.; Combs, Elijah D.; Nagami, Paul H.; Alto, Valerie M.; Goh, Henry G.; Gourdet, Muryam A. A.; Hough, Christina M.; Nickell, Ashley E.; Peer, Adrian G.; Coley, John D.; Tanner, Kimberly D.

2013-01-01

There are widespread aspirations to focus undergraduate biology education on teaching students to think conceptually like biologists; however, there is a dearth of assessment tools designed to measure progress from novice to expert biological conceptual thinking. We present the development of a novel assessment tool, the Biology Card Sorting Task, designed to probe how individuals organize their conceptual knowledge of biology. While modeled on tasks from cognitive psychology, this task is unique in its design to test two hypothesized conceptual frameworks for the organization of biological knowledge: 1) a surface feature organization focused on organism type and 2) a deep feature organization focused on fundamental biological concepts. In this initial investigation of the Biology Card Sorting Task, each of six analytical measures showed statistically significant differences when used to compare the card sorting results of putative biological experts (biology faculty) and novices (non–biology major undergraduates). Consistently, biology faculty appeared to sort based on hypothesized deep features, while non–biology majors appeared to sort based on either surface features or nonhypothesized organizational frameworks. Results suggest that this novel task is robust in distinguishing populations of biology experts and biology novices and may be an adaptable tool for tracking emerging biology conceptual expertise. PMID:24297290

COMPLEX SIMULATION MODEL OF TRAIN BREAKING-UP PROCESS AT THE HUMPS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

E. B. Demchenko

2015-11-01

Full Text Available Purpose. One of the priorities of station sorting complex functioning improvement is the breaking-up process energy consumptions reduction, namely: fuel consumption for train pushing and electric energy consumption for cut braking. In this regard, an effective solution of the problem of energy consumption reduction at breaking-up subsystem requires a comprehensive handling of train pushing and cut rolling down processes. At the same time, the analysis showed that the current task of pushing process improvement and cut rolling down effectiveness increase are solved separately. To solve this problem it is necessary to develop the complex simulation model of train breaking up process at humps. Methodology. Pushing process simulation was done based on adapted under the shunting conditions traction calculations. In addition, the features of shunting locomotives work at the humps were taken into account. In order to realize the current pushing mode the special algorithm of hump locomotive controlling, which along with the safety shunting operation requirements takes into account behavioral factors associated with engineer control actions was applied. This algorithm provides train smooth acceleration and further movement with speed, which is close to the set speed. Hump locomotive fuel consumptions were determined based on the amount of mechanical work performed by locomotive traction. Findings. The simulation model of train pushing process was developed and combined with existing cut rolling down model. Cut initial velocity is determined during simulation process. The obtained initial velocity is used for further cut rolling process modeling. In addition, the modeling resulted in sufficiently accurate determination of the fuel rates consumed for train breaking-up. Originality. The simulation model of train breaking-up process at the humps, which in contrast to the existing models allows reproducing complexly all the elements of this process in detail

Automatic sorting of toxicological information into the IUCLID (International Uniform Chemical Information Database) endpoint-categories making use of the semantic search engine Go3R.

Science.gov (United States)

Sauer, Ursula G; Wächter, Thomas; Hareng, Lars; Wareing, Britta; Langsch, Angelika; Zschunke, Matthias; Alvers, Michael R; Landsiedel, Robert

2014-06-01

The knowledge-based search engine Go3R, www.Go3R.org, has been developed to assist scientists from industry and regulatory authorities in collecting comprehensive toxicological information with a special focus on identifying available alternatives to animal testing. The semantic search paradigm of Go3R makes use of expert knowledge on 3Rs methods and regulatory toxicology, laid down in the ontology, a network of concepts, terms, and synonyms, to recognize the contents of documents. Search results are automatically sorted into a dynamic table of contents presented alongside the list of documents retrieved. This table of contents allows the user to quickly filter the set of documents by topics of interest. Documents containing hazard information are automatically assigned to a user interface following the endpoint-specific IUCLID5 categorization scheme required, e.g. for REACH registration dossiers. For this purpose, complex endpoint-specific search queries were compiled and integrated into the search engine (based upon a gold standard of 310 references that had been assigned manually to the different endpoint categories). Go3R sorts 87% of the references concordantly into the respective IUCLID5 categories. Currently, Go3R searches in the 22 million documents available in the PubMed and TOXNET databases. However, it can be customized to search in other databases including in-house databanks. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

ViSAPy: a Python tool for biophysics-based generation of virtual spiking activity for evaluation of spike-sorting algorithms.

Science.gov (United States)

Hagen, Espen; Ness, Torbjørn V; Khosrowshahi, Amir; Sørensen, Christina; Fyhn, Marianne; Hafting, Torkel; Franke, Felix; Einevoll, Gaute T

2015-04-30

New, silicon-based multielectrodes comprising hundreds or more electrode contacts offer the possibility to record spike trains from thousands of neurons simultaneously. This potential cannot be realized unless accurate, reliable automated methods for spike sorting are developed, in turn requiring benchmarking data sets with known ground-truth spike times. We here present a general simulation tool for computing benchmarking data for evaluation of spike-sorting algorithms entitled ViSAPy (Virtual Spiking Activity in Python). The tool is based on a well-established biophysical forward-modeling scheme and is implemented as a Python package built on top of the neuronal simulator NEURON and the Python tool LFPy. ViSAPy allows for arbitrary combinations of multicompartmental neuron models and geometries of recording multielectrodes. Three example benchmarking data sets are generated, i.e., tetrode and polytrode data mimicking in vivo cortical recordings and microelectrode array (MEA) recordings of in vitro activity in salamander retinas. The synthesized example benchmarking data mimics salient features of typical experimental recordings, for example, spike waveforms depending on interspike interval. ViSAPy goes beyond existing methods as it includes biologically realistic model noise, synaptic activation by recurrent spiking networks, finite-sized electrode contacts, and allows for inhomogeneous electrical conductivities. ViSAPy is optimized to allow for generation of long time series of benchmarking data, spanning minutes of biological time, by parallel execution on multi-core computers. ViSAPy is an open-ended tool as it can be generalized to produce benchmarking data or arbitrary recording-electrode geometries and with various levels of complexity. Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A monolithic glass chip for active single-cell sorting based on mechanical phenotyping.

Science.gov (United States)

Faigle, Christoph; Lautenschläger, Franziska; Whyte, Graeme; Homewood, Philip; Martín-Badosa, Estela; Guck, Jochen

2015-03-07

The mechanical properties of biological cells have long been considered as inherent markers of biological function and disease. However, the screening and active sorting of heterogeneous populations based on serial single-cell mechanical measurements has not been demonstrated. Here we present a novel monolithic glass chip for combined fluorescence detection and mechanical phenotyping using an optical stretcher. A new design and manufacturing process, involving the bonding of two asymmetrically etched glass plates, combines exact optical fiber alignment, low laser damage threshold and high imaging quality with the possibility of several microfluidic inlet and outlet channels. We show the utility of such a custom-built optical stretcher glass chip by measuring and sorting single cells in a heterogeneous population based on their different mechanical properties and verify sorting accuracy by simultaneous fluorescence detection. This offers new possibilities of exact characterization and sorting of small populations based on rheological properties for biological and biomedical applications.

Selective sorting of waste - not much effort needed, just willpower

CERN Multimedia

2007-01-01

In order to keep as low as possible the cost of disposing of waste materials, CERN provides in the entrance to each building two types of recipient: a green plastic one for paper/cardboard and a metallic one for general refuse. For some time now, we have noticed, to our great regret, a growing neglect as far as the selective sorting is concerned, for example the green recipients being filled with a mixture of cardboard boxes full of polystyrene or of protective wrappers, plastic bottles, empty yogurts pots, etc …We have been able to ascertain, after carefully checking, that this haphazard mixing of waste cannot be attributed to the cleaning staff but rather to members of personnel who unscrupulously throw away their rubbish in a completely random manner. Waste non sorted entails heavy costs for CERN. For your information, once a non-compliant item is found in a green recipient, the entire contents are sent off for incineration rather than recycling… We are all concerned by selective sorting of waste mater...

Membrane Tethering Complexes in the Endosomal System

OpenAIRE

Spang, Anne

2016-01-01

Vesicles that are generated by endocytic events at the plasma membrane are destined to early endosomes. A prerequisite for proper fusion is the tethering of two membrane entities. Tethering of vesicles to early endosomes is mediated by the class C core vacuole/endosome tethering (CORVET) complex, while fusion of late endosomes with lysosomes depends on the homotypic fusion and vacuole protein sorting (HOPS) complex. Recycling through the trans-Golgi network (TGN) and to the plasma membrane is...

Noise-robust unsupervised spike sorting based on discriminative subspace learning with outlier handling.

Science.gov (United States)

Keshtkaran, Mohammad Reza; Yang, Zhi

2017-06-01

Spike sorting is a fundamental preprocessing step for many neuroscience studies which rely on the analysis of spike trains. Most of the feature extraction and dimensionality reduction techniques that have been used for spike sorting give a projection subspace which is not necessarily the most discriminative one. Therefore, the clusters which appear inherently separable in some discriminative subspace may overlap if projected using conventional feature extraction approaches leading to a poor sorting accuracy especially when the noise level is high. In this paper, we propose a noise-robust and unsupervised spike sorting algorithm based on learning discriminative spike features for clustering. The proposed algorithm uses discriminative subspace learning to extract low dimensional and most discriminative features from the spike waveforms and perform clustering with automatic detection of the number of the clusters. The core part of the algorithm involves iterative subspace selection using linear discriminant analysis and clustering using Gaussian mixture model with outlier detection. A statistical test in the discriminative subspace is proposed to automatically detect the number of the clusters. Comparative results on publicly available simulated and real in vivo datasets demonstrate that our algorithm achieves substantially improved cluster distinction leading to higher sorting accuracy and more reliable detection of clusters which are highly overlapping and not detectable using conventional feature extraction techniques such as principal component analysis or wavelets. By providing more accurate information about the activity of more number of individual neurons with high robustness to neural noise and outliers, the proposed unsupervised spike sorting algorithm facilitates more detailed and accurate analysis of single- and multi-unit activities in neuroscience and brain machine interface studies.

Noise-robust unsupervised spike sorting based on discriminative subspace learning with outlier handling

Science.gov (United States)

Keshtkaran, Mohammad Reza; Yang, Zhi

2017-06-01

Objective. Spike sorting is a fundamental preprocessing step for many neuroscience studies which rely on the analysis of spike trains. Most of the feature extraction and dimensionality reduction techniques that have been used for spike sorting give a projection subspace which is not necessarily the most discriminative one. Therefore, the clusters which appear inherently separable in some discriminative subspace may overlap if projected using conventional feature extraction approaches leading to a poor sorting accuracy especially when the noise level is high. In this paper, we propose a noise-robust and unsupervised spike sorting algorithm based on learning discriminative spike features for clustering. Approach. The proposed algorithm uses discriminative subspace learning to extract low dimensional and most discriminative features from the spike waveforms and perform clustering with automatic detection of the number of the clusters. The core part of the algorithm involves iterative subspace selection using linear discriminant analysis and clustering using Gaussian mixture model with outlier detection. A statistical test in the discriminative subspace is proposed to automatically detect the number of the clusters. Main results. Comparative results on publicly available simulated and real in vivo datasets demonstrate that our algorithm achieves substantially improved cluster distinction leading to higher sorting accuracy and more reliable detection of clusters which are highly overlapping and not detectable using conventional feature extraction techniques such as principal component analysis or wavelets. Significance. By providing more accurate information about the activity of more number of individual neurons with high robustness to neural noise and outliers, the proposed unsupervised spike sorting algorithm facilitates more detailed and accurate analysis of single- and multi-unit activities in neuroscience and brain machine interface studies.

An algorithm for intelligent sorting of CT-related dose parameters

Science.gov (United States)

Cook, Tessa S.; Zimmerman, Stefan L.; Steingal, Scott; Boonn, William W.; Kim, Woojin

2011-03-01

Imaging centers nationwide are seeking innovative means to record and monitor CT-related radiation dose in light of multiple instances of patient over-exposure to medical radiation. As a solution, we have developed RADIANCE, an automated pipeline for extraction, archival and reporting of CT-related dose parameters. Estimation of whole-body effective dose from CT dose-length product (DLP)-an indirect estimate of radiation dose-requires anatomy-specific conversion factors that cannot be applied to total DLP, but instead necessitate individual anatomy-based DLPs. A challenge exists because the total DLP reported on a dose sheet often includes multiple separate examinations (e.g., chest CT followed by abdominopelvic CT). Furthermore, the individual reported series DLPs may not be clearly or consistently labeled. For example, Arterial could refer to the arterial phase of the triple liver CT or the arterial phase of a CT angiogram. To address this problem, we have designed an intelligent algorithm to parse dose sheets for multi-series CT examinations and correctly separate the total DLP into its anatomic components. The algorithm uses information from the departmental PACS to determine how many distinct CT examinations were concurrently performed. Then, it matches the number of distinct accession numbers to the series that were acquired, and anatomically matches individual series DLPs to their appropriate CT examinations. This algorithm allows for more accurate dose analytics, but there remain instances where automatic sorting is not feasible. To ultimately improve radiology patient care, we must standardize series names and exam names to unequivocally sort exams by anatomy and correctly estimate whole-body effective dose.

An algorithm for intelligent sorting of CT-related dose parameters.

Science.gov (United States)

Cook, Tessa S; Zimmerman, Stefan L; Steingall, Scott R; Boonn, William W; Kim, Woojin

2012-02-01

Imaging centers nationwide are seeking innovative means to record and monitor computed tomography (CT)-related radiation dose in light of multiple instances of patient overexposure to medical radiation. As a solution, we have developed RADIANCE, an automated pipeline for extraction, archival, and reporting of CT-related dose parameters. Estimation of whole-body effective dose from CT dose length product (DLP)--an indirect estimate of radiation dose--requires anatomy-specific conversion factors that cannot be applied to total DLP, but instead necessitate individual anatomy-based DLPs. A challenge exists because the total DLP reported on a dose sheet often includes multiple separate examinations (e.g., chest CT followed by abdominopelvic CT). Furthermore, the individual reported series DLPs may not be clearly or consistently labeled. For example, "arterial" could refer to the arterial phase of the triple liver CT or the arterial phase of a CT angiogram. To address this problem, we have designed an intelligent algorithm to parse dose sheets for multi-series CT examinations and correctly separate the total DLP into its anatomic components. The algorithm uses information from the departmental PACS to determine how many distinct CT examinations were concurrently performed. Then, it matches the number of distinct accession numbers to the series that were acquired and anatomically matches individual series DLPs to their appropriate CT examinations. This algorithm allows for more accurate dose analytics, but there remain instances where automatic sorting is not feasible. To ultimately improve radiology patient care, we must standardize series names and exam names to unequivocally sort exams by anatomy and correctly estimate whole-body effective dose.

Experimentation on accuracy of non functional requirement prioritization approaches for different complexity projects

OpenAIRE

Raj Kumar Chopra; Varun Gupta; Durg Singh Chauhan

2016-01-01

Non functional requirements must be selected for implementation together with functional requirements to enhance the success of software projects. Three approaches exist for performing the prioritization of non functional requirements using the suitable prioritization technique. This paper performs experimentation on three different complexity versions of the industrial software project using cost-value prioritization technique employing three approaches. Experimentation is conducted to analy...

Differential evolution enhanced with multiobjective sorting-based mutation operators.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Jiahai; Liao, Jianjun; Zhou, Ying; Cai, Yiqiao

2014-12-01

Differential evolution (DE) is a simple and powerful population-based evolutionary algorithm. The salient feature of DE lies in its mutation mechanism. Generally, the parents in the mutation operator of DE are randomly selected from the population. Hence, all vectors are equally likely to be selected as parents without selective pressure at all. Additionally, the diversity information is always ignored. In order to fully exploit the fitness and diversity information of the population, this paper presents a DE framework with multiobjective sorting-based mutation operator. In the proposed mutation operator, individuals in the current population are firstly sorted according to their fitness and diversity contribution by nondominated sorting. Then parents in the mutation operators are proportionally selected according to their rankings based on fitness and diversity, thus, the promising individuals with better fitness and diversity have more opportunity to be selected as parents. Since fitness and diversity information is simultaneously considered for parent selection, a good balance between exploration and exploitation can be achieved. The proposed operator is applied to original DE algorithms, as well as several advanced DE variants. Experimental results on 48 benchmark functions and 12 real-world application problems show that the proposed operator is an effective approach to enhance the performance of most DE algorithms studied.

Validation of neural spike sorting algorithms without ground-truth information.

Science.gov (United States)

Barnett, Alex H; Magland, Jeremy F; Greengard, Leslie F

2016-05-01

The throughput of electrophysiological recording is growing rapidly, allowing thousands of simultaneous channels, and there is a growing variety of spike sorting algorithms designed to extract neural firing events from such data. This creates an urgent need for standardized, automatic evaluation of the quality of neural units output by such algorithms. We introduce a suite of validation metrics that assess the credibility of a given automatic spike sorting algorithm applied to a given dataset. By rerunning the spike sorter two or more times, the metrics measure stability under various perturbations consistent with variations in the data itself, making no assumptions about the internal workings of the algorithm, and minimal assumptions about the noise. We illustrate the new metrics on standard sorting algorithms applied to both in vivo and ex vivo recordings, including a time series with overlapping spikes. We compare the metrics to existing quality measures, and to ground-truth accuracy in simulated time series. We provide a software implementation. Metrics have until now relied on ground-truth, simulated data, internal algorithm variables (e.g. cluster separation), or refractory violations. By contrast, by standardizing the interface, our metrics assess the reliability of any automatic algorithm without reference to internal variables (e.g. feature space) or physiological criteria. Stability is a prerequisite for reproducibility of results. Such metrics could reduce the significant human labor currently spent on validation, and should form an essential part of large-scale automated spike sorting and systematic benchmarking of algorithms. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A Low Cost VLSI Architecture for Spike Sorting Based on Feature Extraction with Peak Search.

Science.gov (United States)

Chang, Yuan-Jyun; Hwang, Wen-Jyi; Chen, Chih-Chang

2016-12-07

The goal of this paper is to present a novel VLSI architecture for spike sorting with high classification accuracy, low area costs and low power consumption. A novel feature extraction algorithm with low computational complexities is proposed for the design of the architecture. In the feature extraction algorithm, a spike is separated into two portions based on its peak value. The area of each portion is then used as a feature. The algorithm is simple to implement and less susceptible to noise interference. Based on the algorithm, a novel architecture capable of identifying peak values and computing spike areas concurrently is proposed. To further accelerate the computation, a spike can be divided into a number of segments for the local feature computation. The local features are subsequently merged with the global ones by a simple hardware circuit. The architecture can also be easily operated in conjunction with the circuits for commonly-used spike detection algorithms, such as the Non-linear Energy Operator (NEO). The architecture has been implemented by an Application-Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) with 90-nm technology. Comparisons to the existing works show that the proposed architecture is well suited for real-time multi-channel spike detection and feature extraction requiring low hardware area costs, low power consumption and high classification accuracy.

Spinach seed quality - potential for combining seed size grading and chlorophyll flourescence sorting

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Deleuran, Lise Christina; Olesen, Merete Halkjær; Boelt, Birte

2013-01-01

might therefore improve the establishment of spinach for producers. Spinach seeds were harvested at five different times (H1, H2, H3, H4 and H5) starting 3 weeks before estimated optimum harvest time. The harvested seeds were sorted according to chlorophyll fluorescence (CF) and seed size. Two harvest.......5–3.25 mm size seeds had germinated on day 3 than both their larger and smaller counterparts at the later time of harvest (H4). Seeds with a diameter below 2.5 mm displayed the lowest MGT. Commercially, the use of chlorophyll fluorescence (CF)-sorted seeds, in combination with seed size sorting, may provide...

Experience and problems of the automated measuring and sorting of sealed radiation sources

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shmidt, G.

1979-01-01

It has been shown that with the help of a serial device for samples changing and a mini-computer with a suitable software it is possible to organize the radioactivity measuring and sorting of sealed gamma-sources with activity in the microcuri region. Application of the computer permits to rise accuracy of the data on the radiation sources radioactivity, sorted according to the preset activity level groups and, in the casa of necessity, to perform the activity measurements with lower error. The method listed, gives the working-time economy of nearly 4 hours in measuring and sorting of some 500 sealed radiation sources [ru

A Computer Environment for Beginners' Learning of Sorting Algorithms: Design and Pilot Evaluation

Science.gov (United States)

Kordaki, M.; Miatidis, M.; Kapsampelis, G.

2008-01-01

This paper presents the design, features and pilot evaluation study of a web-based environment--the SORTING environment--for the learning of sorting algorithms by secondary level education students. The design of this environment is based on modeling methodology, taking into account modern constructivist and social theories of learning while at…

Using Sorting Networks for Skill Building and Reasoning

Science.gov (United States)

Andre, Robert; Wiest, Lynda R.

2007-01-01

Sorting networks, used in graph theory, have instructional value as a skill- building tool as well as an interesting exploration in discrete mathematics. Students can practice mathematics facts and develop reasoning and logic skills with this topic. (Contains 4 figures.)

Consensus-Based Sorting of Neuronal Spike Waveforms.

Science.gov (United States)

Fournier, Julien; Mueller, Christian M; Shein-Idelson, Mark; Hemberger, Mike; Laurent, Gilles

2016-01-01

Optimizing spike-sorting algorithms is difficult because sorted clusters can rarely be checked against independently obtained "ground truth" data. In most spike-sorting algorithms in use today, the optimality of a clustering solution is assessed relative to some assumption on the distribution of the spike shapes associated with a particular single unit (e.g., Gaussianity) and by visual inspection of the clustering solution followed by manual validation. When the spatiotemporal waveforms of spikes from different cells overlap, the decision as to whether two spikes should be assigned to the same source can be quite subjective, if it is not based on reliable quantitative measures. We propose a new approach, whereby spike clusters are identified from the most consensual partition across an ensemble of clustering solutions. Using the variability of the clustering solutions across successive iterations of the same clustering algorithm (template matching based on K-means clusters), we estimate the probability of spikes being clustered together and identify groups of spikes that are not statistically distinguishable from one another. Thus, we identify spikes that are most likely to be clustered together and therefore correspond to consistent spike clusters. This method has the potential advantage that it does not rely on any model of the spike shapes. It also provides estimates of the proportion of misclassified spikes for each of the identified clusters. We tested our algorithm on several datasets for which there exists a ground truth (simultaneous intracellular data), and show that it performs close to the optimum reached by a support vector machine trained on the ground truth. We also show that the estimated rate of misclassification matches the proportion of misclassified spikes measured from the ground truth data.

Functional Requirements for Fab-7 Boundary Activity in the Bithorax Complex

Science.gov (United States)

Wolle, Daniel; Cleard, Fabienne; Aoki, Tsutomu; Deshpande, Girish; Karch, Francois

2015-01-01

Chromatin boundaries are architectural elements that determine the three-dimensional folding of the chromatin fiber and organize the chromosome into independent units of genetic activity. The Fab-7 boundary from the Drosophila bithorax complex (BX-C) is required for the parasegment-specific expression of the Abd-B gene. We have used a replacement strategy to identify sequences that are necessary and sufficient for Fab-7 boundary function in the BX-C. Fab-7 boundary activity is known to depend on factors that are stage specific, and we describe a novel ∼700-kDa complex, the late boundary complex (LBC), that binds to Fab-7 sequences that have insulator functions in late embryos and adults. We show that the LBC is enriched in nuclear extracts from late, but not early, embryos and that it contains three insulator proteins, GAF, Mod(mdg4), and E(y)2. Its DNA binding properties are unusual in that it requires a minimal sequence of >65 bp; however, other than a GAGA motif, the three Fab-7 LBC recognition elements display few sequence similarities. Finally, we show that mutations which abrogate LBC binding in vitro inactivate the Fab-7 boundary in the BX-C. PMID:26303531

Functional Requirements for Fab-7 Boundary Activity in the Bithorax Complex.

Science.gov (United States)

Wolle, Daniel; Cleard, Fabienne; Aoki, Tsutomu; Deshpande, Girish; Schedl, Paul; Karch, Francois

2015-11-01

Chromatin boundaries are architectural elements that determine the three-dimensional folding of the chromatin fiber and organize the chromosome into independent units of genetic activity. The Fab-7 boundary from the Drosophila bithorax complex (BX-C) is required for the parasegment-specific expression of the Abd-B gene. We have used a replacement strategy to identify sequences that are necessary and sufficient for Fab-7 boundary function in the BX-C. Fab-7 boundary activity is known to depend on factors that are stage specific, and we describe a novel ∼700-kDa complex, the late boundary complex (LBC), that binds to Fab-7 sequences that have insulator functions in late embryos and adults. We show that the LBC is enriched in nuclear extracts from late, but not early, embryos and that it contains three insulator proteins, GAF, Mod(mdg4), and E(y)2. Its DNA binding properties are unusual in that it requires a minimal sequence of >65 bp; however, other than a GAGA motif, the three Fab-7 LBC recognition elements display few sequence similarities. Finally, we show that mutations which abrogate LBC binding in vitro inactivate the Fab-7 boundary in the BX-C. Copyright © 2015, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Role of Conserved Oligomeric Golgi Complex in the Abnormalities of Glycoprotein Processing in Breast Cancer Cells

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Zolov, Sergey N

2006-01-01

...: protein glycosylation and its sorting. For analysis of COG complex function we utilized RNA interference assay to knockdown COG3p subunit of COG complex in normal and breast cancer cells and other tumor cell lines...

Sorting waste - A question of good will

CERN Multimedia

TS Department - FM Group

2006-01-01

In order to minimise waste-sorting costs, CERN provides two types of container at the entrance of buildings: a green plastic container for paper/cardboard and a metal container for household-type waste. We regret that recently there has been a significant decrease in the extent to which these types of waste are sorted, for example green containers have been found to hold assorted waste such as cardboard boxes filled with polystyrene, bubble-wrap or even plastic bottles, yoghurt pots, etc. Checks have shown that this 'non-compliant' waste does not come from the rubbish bins emptied by the cleaners but is deposited there directly by inconsiderate users. During the months of October and November alone, for example, only 15% of the waste from the paper/cardboard containers was recycled and the remaining 85% had to be incinerated, which entails a high cost for CERN. You should note that once an item of non-compliant waste is found in a green container its contents are immediately sent as waste to be incinerated ...

Bacterial lipoproteins; biogenesis, sorting and quality control.

Science.gov (United States)

Narita, Shin-Ichiro; Tokuda, Hajime

2017-11-01

Bacterial lipoproteins are a subset of membrane proteins localized on either leaflet of the lipid bilayer. These proteins are anchored to membranes through their N-terminal lipid moiety attached to a conserved Cys. Since the protein moiety of most lipoproteins is hydrophilic, they are expected to play various roles in a hydrophilic environment outside the cytoplasmic membrane. Gram-negative bacteria such as Escherichia coli possess an outer membrane, to which most lipoproteins are sorted. The Lol pathway plays a central role in the sorting of lipoproteins to the outer membrane after lipoprotein precursors are processed to mature forms in the cytoplasmic membrane. Most lipoproteins are anchored to the inner leaflet of the outer membrane with their protein moiety in the periplasm. However, recent studies indicated that some lipoproteins further undergo topology change in the outer membrane, and play critical roles in the biogenesis and quality control of the outer membrane. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: Bacterial Lipids edited by Russell E. Bishop. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Track data sort program

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Abramov, N.A.; Matveev, V.A.; Fedotov, O.P.

1977-01-01

The description is given of the MASKA program, based on the principle of sorting points array at surface due to their belonging to the topologically connected regions with boundaries of locked broken lines. The algorithm is realized on the ES-1010 computer for automatic image processing from the bubble chambers by scanning measuring projector. The methods are considered for constructing the above mentioned regions for all the images according to the base points measured on the semiautomatic measuring table. The MASKA program is written in the ASSEMBLER-2 language and equals 3.5K words of the main memory. The average processing time for 10000 points according to one mask is 1 sec

Safe sorting of GFP-transduced live cells for subsequent culture using a modified FACS vantage

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sørensen, T U; Gram, G J; Nielsen, S D

1999-01-01

BACKGROUND: A stream-in-air cell sorter enables rapid sorting to a high purity, but it is not well suited for sorting of infectious material due to the risk of airborne spread to the surroundings. METHODS: A FACS Vantage cell sorter was modified for safe use with potentially HIV infected cells...... culture. CONCLUSIONS: Sorting of live infected cells can be performed safely and with no deleterious effects on vector expression using the modified FACS Vantage instrument....

Sphingolipid trafficking and protein sorting in epithelial cells

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Slimane, TA; Hoekstra, D

2002-01-01

Sphingolipids represent a minor, but highly dynamic subclass of lipids in all eukaryotic cells. They are involved in functions that range from structural protection to signal transduction and protein sorting, and participate in lipid raft assembly. In polarized epithelial cells, which display an

Optical sorting and photo-transfection of mammalian cells

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Mthunzi, P

2010-02-01

Full Text Available and that the scattering force can enable sorting through axial guiding onto laminin coated glass coverslips upon which the selected cells adhere. Following this, I report on transient photo-transfection of mammalian cells including neuroblastomas (rat/mouse and human...

Raman-Activated Droplet Sorting (RADS) for Label-Free High-Throughput Screening of Microalgal Single-Cells.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Xixian; Ren, Lihui; Su, Yetian; Ji, Yuetong; Liu, Yaoping; Li, Chunyu; Li, Xunrong; Zhang, Yi; Wang, Wei; Hu, Qiang; Han, Danxiang; Xu, Jian; Ma, Bo

2017-11-21

Raman-activated cell sorting (RACS) has attracted increasing interest, yet throughput remains one major factor limiting its broader application. Here we present an integrated Raman-activated droplet sorting (RADS) microfluidic system for functional screening of live cells in a label-free and high-throughput manner, by employing AXT-synthetic industrial microalga Haematococcus pluvialis (H. pluvialis) as a model. Raman microspectroscopy analysis of individual cells is carried out prior to their microdroplet encapsulation, which is then directly coupled to DEP-based droplet sorting. To validate the system, H. pluvialis cells containing different levels of AXT were mixed and underwent RADS. Those AXT-hyperproducing cells were sorted with an accuracy of 98.3%, an enrichment ratio of eight folds, and a throughput of ∼260 cells/min. Of the RADS-sorted cells, 92.7% remained alive and able to proliferate, which is equivalent to the unsorted cells. Thus, the RADS achieves a much higher throughput than existing RACS systems, preserves the vitality of cells, and facilitates seamless coupling with downstream manipulations such as single-cell sequencing and cultivation.

System Architecture For High Speed Sorting Of Potatoes

Science.gov (United States)

Marchant, J. A.; Onyango, C. M.; Street, M. J.

1989-03-01

This paper illustrates an industrial application of vision processing in which potatoes are sorted according to their size and shape at speeds of up to 40 objects per second. The result is a multi-processing approach built around the VME bus. A hardware unit has been designed and constructed to encode the boundary of the potatoes, to reducing the amount of data to be processed. A master 68000 processor is used to control this unit and to handle data transfers along the bus. Boundary data is passed to one of three 68010 slave processors each responsible for a line of potatoes across a conveyor belt. The slave processors calculate attributes such as shape, size and estimated weight of each potato and the master processor uses this data to operate the sorting mechanism. The system has been interfaced with a commercial grading machine and performance trials are now in progress.

Genetic surfing, not allopatric divergence, explains spatial sorting of mitochondrial haplotypes in venomous coralsnakes.

Science.gov (United States)

Streicher, Jeffrey W; McEntee, Jay P; Drzich, Laura C; Card, Daren C; Schield, Drew R; Smart, Utpal; Parkinson, Christopher L; Jezkova, Tereza; Smith, Eric N; Castoe, Todd A

2016-07-01

Strong spatial sorting of genetic variation in contiguous populations is often explained by local adaptation or secondary contact following allopatric divergence. A third explanation, spatial sorting by stochastic effects of range expansion, has been considered less often though theoretical models suggest it should be widespread, if ephemeral. In a study designed to delimit species within a clade of venomous coralsnakes, we identified an unusual pattern within the Texas coral snake (Micrurus tener): strong spatial sorting of divergent mitochondrial (mtDNA) lineages over a portion of its range, but weak sorting of these lineages elsewhere. We tested three alternative hypotheses to explain this pattern-local adaptation, secondary contact following allopatric divergence, and range expansion. Collectively, near panmixia of nuclear DNA, the signal of range expansion associated sampling drift, expansion origins in the Gulf Coast of Mexico, and species distribution modeling suggest that the spatial sorting of divergent mtDNA lineages within M. tener has resulted from genetic surfing of standing mtDNA variation-not local adaptation or allopatric divergence. Our findings highlight the potential for the stochastic effects of recent range expansion to mislead estimations of population divergence made from mtDNA, which may be exacerbated in systems with low vagility, ancestral mtDNA polymorphism, and male-biased dispersal. © 2016 The Author(s).

The structured-objective rorschach test (sort occupational profile for state accountants

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J. J. Gouws

1996-06-01

Full Text Available The objective of this study was to provide an occupational profile of performance on the Structured-Objective Rorschach Test (SORT by state accountants for use in guidance, election and placement of personnel. The sample comprised accountants and auditors from the financial sections in various state institutions who were selected for the Senior Financial Management Course at the University of Stellenbosch. As all participants were considered successful in their occupation and no significant differences were found between the profiles of various age and year groups, the SORT profile obtained for the total group can be used as a predictor to determine and evaluate the personality traits that are important in the profession of state accountant. Opsomming Die doel van hierdie studie was die daarstelling van 'n beroepsprofiel van staatsrekenmeesters se prestasie op die Gestruktureerd-Objektiewe Rorschachtoets (SORT wat vir voorligting/ keuring en plasing van personeel gebruik kan word. Die steekproef is saamgestel uit rekenmeesters en ouditeure van die finansiele afdelings in verskeie staatsinstansies wat geselekteer is vir die Senior Finansiele Bestuurskursus by die Universiteit van Stellenbosch. Aangesien alle deelnemers as suksesvol in hulle beroep beskou is en geen beduidende verskille in die profiele van verskillende ouderdomsgroepe en jaargroepe gevind is nie, kan die SORT profiel van die totale groep as 'n voorspeller gebruik word vir die bepaling en evaluering van die persoonlikheidseienskappe wat belangrik is in die beroep van staatsrekenmeester.

Effect of Hydrograph Characteristics on Vertical Grain Sorting in Gravel Bed Rivers

Science.gov (United States)

Hassan, M. A.; Parker, G.; Egozi, R.

2005-12-01

This study focuses on the formation of armour layers over a range of hydrologic conditions that includes two limiting cases; a relatively flat hydrograph that represents conditions produced by continuous snowmelt and a sharply peaked hydrograph that represents conditions associated with flash floods. To achieve our objective we analyzed field evidence, conducted flume experiments and performed numerical simulations. Sediment supply appears to be a first-order control on bed surface armouring, while the shape of the hydrograph plays a secondary role. All constant hydrograph experiments developed a well-armored structured surface while short asymmetrical hydrographs did not show substantial vertical sorting. All symmetrical hydrographs show some degree of sorting, and the sorting tended to become more pronounced with longer duration. Using the numerical framework of Parker, modified Powell, et al. and Wilcock and Crowe, we were able to achieve similar results.

Decision trees with minimum average depth for sorting eight elements

KAUST Repository

AbouEisha, Hassan M.

2015-11-19

We prove that the minimum average depth of a decision tree for sorting 8 pairwise different elements is equal to 620160/8!. We show also that each decision tree for sorting 8 elements, which has minimum average depth (the number of such trees is approximately equal to 8.548×10^326365), has also minimum depth. Both problems were considered by Knuth (1998). To obtain these results, we use tools based on extensions of dynamic programming which allow us to make sequential optimization of decision trees relative to depth and average depth, and to count the number of decision trees with minimum average depth.

40 CFR 180.1022 - Iodine-detergent complex; exemption from the requirement of a tolerance.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 23 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Iodine-detergent complex; exemption... FOOD Exemptions From Tolerances § 180.1022 Iodine-detergent complex; exemption from the requirement of a tolerance. The aqueous solution of hydriodic acid and elemental iodine, including one or both of...

Germination and seedling establishment in orchids: a complex of requirements.

Science.gov (United States)

Rasmussen, Hanne N; Dixon, Kingsley W; Jersáková, Jana; Těšitelová, Tamara

2015-09-01

Seedling recruitment is essential to the sustainability of any plant population. Due to the minute nature of seeds and early-stage seedlings, orchid germination in situ was for a long time practically impossible to observe, creating an obstacle towards understanding seedling site requirements and fluctuations in orchid populations. The introduction of seed packet techniques for sowing and retrieval in natural sites has brought with it important insights, but many aspects of orchid seed and germination biology remain largely unexplored. The germination niche for orchids is extremely complex, because it is defined by requirements not only for seed lodging and germination, but also for presence of a fungal host and its substrate. A mycobiont that the seedling can parasitize is considered an essential element, and a great diversity of Basidiomycota and Ascomycota have now been identified for their role in orchid seed germination, with fungi identifiable as imperfect Rhizoctonia species predominating. Specificity patterns vary from orchid species employing a single fungal lineage to species associating individually with a limited selection of distantly related fungi. A suitable organic carbon source for the mycobiont constitutes another key requirement. Orchid germination also relies on factors that generally influence the success of plant seeds, both abiotic, such as light/shade, moisture, substrate chemistry and texture, and biotic, such as competitors and antagonists. Complexity is furthermore increased when these factors influence seeds/seedling, fungi and fungal substrate differentially. A better understanding of germination and seedling establishment is needed for conservation of orchid populations. Due to the obligate association with a mycobiont, the germination niches in orchid species are extremely complex and varied. Microsites suitable for germination can be small and transient, and direct observation is difficult. An experimental approach using several

Techno-economic assessment of central sorting at material recovery facilities

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Cimpan, Ciprian; Maul, Anja; Wenzel, Henrik

2016-01-01

sales and sorting residues disposal costs. Material flows through the plants were simulated considering both optimal process conditions and real or typical conditions characterised by downtime and frequent operation at overcapacity. By modelling four plants of progressively higher capacity (size......Simulation of technical and economic performance for materials recovery facilities (MRFs) is a basic requirement for planning new, or evaluating existing, separate waste collection and recycling systems. This study mitigates the current pervasive scarcity of data on process efficiency and costs...... 7 to 21 million EUR and the yearly operational expenditure grew by a factor of 2.4 from 2 to 4.7 million EUR. As a result, specific unit processing cost decreased from 110 to 70 EUR/tonne. Material sales and disposal costs summed to between a net cost of 25 EUR/tonne and net revenue of 50 EUR...

Sorting it out: bedding particle size and nesting material processing method affect nest complexity.

Science.gov (United States)

Robinson-Junker, Amy; Morin, Amelia; Pritchett-Corning, Kathleen; Gaskill, Brianna N

2017-04-01

As part of routine husbandry, an increasing number of laboratory mice receive nesting material in addition to standard bedding material in their cages. Nesting material improves health outcomes and physiological performance in mice that receive it. Providing usable nesting material uniformly and efficiently to various strains of mice remains a challenge. The aim of this study was to determine how bedding particle size, method of nesting material delivery, and processing of the nesting material before delivery affected nest building in mice of strong (BALB/cAnNCrl) and weak (C3H/HeNCrl) gathering abilities. Our data suggest that processing nesting material through a grinder in conjunction with bedding material, although convenient for provision of bedding with nesting material 'built-in', negatively affects the integrity of the nesting material and subsequent nest-building outcomes. We also found that C3H mice, previously thought to be poor nest builders, built similarly scored nests to those of BALB/c mice when provided with unprocessed nesting material. This was true even when nesting material was mixed into the bedding substrate. We also observed that when nesting material was mixed into the bedding substrate, mice of both strains would sort their bedding by particle size more often than if it were not mixed in. Our findings support the utility of the practice of distributing nesting material mixed in with bedding substrate, but not that of processing the nesting material with the bedding in order to mix them.

Image analysis to measure sorting and stratification applied to sand-gravel experiments

OpenAIRE

Orrú, C.

2016-01-01

The main objective of this project is to develop new measuring techniques for providing detailed data on sediment sorting suitable for sand-gravel laboratory experiments. Such data will be of aid in obtaining new insights on sorting mechanisms and improving prediction capabilities of morphodynamic models. Two measuring techniques have been developed. The first technique is aimed at measuring the size stratification of a sand-gravel deposit through combining image analysis and a sediment remov...

Sorting and quantifying orbital angular momentum of laser beams

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Schulze, C

2013-10-01

Full Text Available We present a novel tool for sorting the orbital angular momentum and to determine the orbital angular momentum density of laser beams, which is based on the use of correlation filters....

Performance pay, sorting and social motivation

OpenAIRE

Eriksson, Tor; Villeval, Marie Claire

2008-01-01

International audience; Variable pay links pay and performance but may also help firms in attracting more productive employees. Our experiment investigates the impact of performance pay on both incentives and sorting and analyzes the influence of repeated interactions between firms and employees on these effects. We show that (i) the opportunity to switch from a fixed wage to variable pay scheme increases the average effort level and its variance; (ii) high skill employees concentrate under t...

A novel fractal image compression scheme with block classification and sorting based on Pearson's correlation coefficient.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Jianji; Zheng, Nanning

2013-09-01

Fractal image compression (FIC) is an image coding technology based on the local similarity of image structure. It is widely used in many fields such as image retrieval, image denoising, image authentication, and encryption. FIC, however, suffers from the high computational complexity in encoding. Although many schemes are published to speed up encoding, they do not easily satisfy the encoding time or the reconstructed image quality requirements. In this paper, a new FIC scheme is proposed based on the fact that the affine similarity between two blocks in FIC is equivalent to the absolute value of Pearson's correlation coefficient (APCC) between them. First, all blocks in the range and domain pools are chosen and classified using an APCC-based block classification method to increase the matching probability. Second, by sorting the domain blocks with respect to APCCs between these domain blocks and a preset block in each class, the matching domain block for a range block can be searched in the selected domain set in which these APCCs are closer to APCC between the range block and the preset block. Experimental results show that the proposed scheme can significantly speed up the encoding process in FIC while preserving the reconstructed image quality well.

THE STUDY OF SELF-BALANCED POTATO SORTING MACHINE WITH LINEAR INDUCTION DRIVE

OpenAIRE

Linenko A. V.; Baynazarov V. G.; Kamalov T. I.

2016-01-01

In the article we have considered the self-balanced potato sorting machine differing from existing designs of self-balanced potato sorting machines with an oscillatory electric drive. That drive uses a linear induction motor. As the counterbalancing device, the method of the duplicating mechanism is applied. The duplicating mechanism is a specular reflection of the main working body, and also participates in technological process. Its application in the drive of machine allows not only to inc...

Card sorting to evaluate the robustness of the information architecture of a protocol website.

Science.gov (United States)

Wentzel, J; Müller, F; Beerlage-de Jong, N; van Gemert-Pijnen, J

2016-02-01

A website on Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus, MRSA-net, was developed for Health Care Workers (HCWs) and the general public, in German and in Dutch. The website's content was based on existing protocols and its structure was based on a card sort study. A Human Centered Design approach was applied to ensure a match between user and technology. In the current study we assess whether the website's structure still matches user needs, again via a card sort study. An open card sort study was conducted. Randomly drawn samples of 100 on-site search queries as they were entered on the MRSA-net website (during one year of use) were used as card input. In individual sessions, the cards were sorted by each participant (18 German and 10 Dutch HCWs, and 10 German and 10 Dutch members of the general public) into piles that were meaningful to them. Each participant provided a label for every pile of cards they created. Cluster analysis was performed on the resulting sorts, creating an overview of clusters of items placed together in one pile most frequently. In addition, pile labels were qualitatively analyzed to identify the participants' mental models. Cluster analysis confirmed existing categories and revealed new themes emerging from the search query samples, such as financial issues and consequences for the patient. Even though MRSA-net addresses these topics, they are not prominently covered in the menu structure. The label analysis shows that 7 of a total of 44 MRSA-net categories were not reproduced by the participants. Additional themes such as information on other pathogens and categories such as legal issues emerged. This study shows that the card sort performed to create MRSA-net resulted in overall long-lasting structure and categories. New categories were identified, indicating that additional information needs emerged. Therefore, evaluating website structure should be a recurrent activity. Card sorting with ecological data as input for the cards is

Automatic Color Sorting Machine Using TCS230 Color Sensor And PIC Microcontroller

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kunhimohammed C K

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Sorting of products is a very difficult industrial process. Continuous manual sorting creates consistency issues. This paper describes a working prototype designed for automatic sorting of objects based on the color. TCS230 sensor was used to detect the color of the product and the PIC16F628A microcontroller was used to control the overall process. The identification of the color is based on the frequency analysis of the output of TCS230 sensor. Two conveyor belts were used, each controlled by separate DC motors. The first belt is for placing the product to be analyzed by the color sensor, and the second belt is for moving the container, having separated compartments, in order to separate the products. The experimental results promise that the prototype will fulfill the needs for higher production and precise quality in the field of automation.

European project BOOSTER: how to sort victims of a nuclear accident?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Robbe, M.F.; Gmar, M.; Schoepff, V.

2013-01-01

The purpose of the BOOSTER project is to develop tools allowing victims to be sorted quickly according to their level of irradiation. The fastness of the sorting is very important as a nuclear accident or a terrorist attack involving a dirty bomb is likely to cause numerous casualties. A preliminary sorting can be made with a portable walk-through gamma detector that allows the detection of contaminated victims. 4 technologies are proposed for assessing in less than 20 minutes the level of irradiation of a victim: the first method that is based on the analysis of the phosphorylation of the H2AX protein, allows the determination of the irradiation level from the analysis of a drop of blood. The second method allows the determination of the radionuclides present in a drop of blood or urine. The third method uses the thermo-luminescent properties of SMD resistances present in mobile phones to determine the level of irradiation. The fourth method is based on a portable low-background gamma spectrometer able to study environmental and biological samples on the spot. (A.C.)

Reduction of Aflatoxins in Apricot Kernels by Electronic and Manual Color Sorting

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rosanna Zivoli

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The efficacy of color sorting on reducing aflatoxin levels in shelled apricot kernels was assessed. Naturally-contaminated kernels were submitted to an electronic optical sorter or blanched, peeled, and manually sorted to visually identify and sort discolored kernels (dark and spotted from healthy ones. The samples obtained from the two sorting approaches were ground, homogenized, and analysed by HPLC-FLD for their aflatoxin content. A mass balance approach was used to measure the distribution of aflatoxins in the collected fractions. Aflatoxin B1 and B2 were identified and quantitated in all collected fractions at levels ranging from 1.7 to 22,451.5 µg/kg of AFB1 + AFB2, whereas AFG1 and AFG2 were not detected. Excellent results were obtained by manual sorting of peeled kernels since the removal of discolored kernels (2.6%–19.9% of total peeled kernels removed 97.3%–99.5% of total aflatoxins. The combination of peeling and visual/manual separation of discolored kernels is a feasible strategy to remove 97%–99% of aflatoxins accumulated in naturally-contaminated samples. Electronic optical sorter gave highly variable results since the amount of AFB1 + AFB2 measured in rejected fractions (15%–18% of total kernels ranged from 13% to 59% of total aflatoxins. An improved immunoaffinity-based HPLC-FLD method having low limits of detection for the four aflatoxins (0.01–0.05 µg/kg was developed and used to monitor the occurrence of aflatoxins in 47 commercial products containing apricot kernels and/or almonds commercialized in Italy. Low aflatoxin levels were found in 38% of the tested samples and ranged from 0.06 to 1.50 μg/kg for AFB1 and from 0.06 to 1.79 μg/kg for total aflatoxins.

Size-based cell sorting with a resistive pulse sensor and an electromagnetic pump in a microfluidic chip.

Science.gov (United States)

Song, Yongxin; Li, Mengqi; Pan, Xinxiang; Wang, Qi; Li, Dongqing

2015-02-01

An electrokinetic microfluidic chip is developed to detect and sort target cells by size from human blood samples. Target-cell detection is achieved by a differential resistive pulse sensor (RPS) based on the size difference between the target cell and other cells. Once a target cell is detected, the detected RPS signal will automatically actuate an electromagnetic pump built in a microchannel to push the target cell into a collecting channel. This method was applied to automatically detect and sort A549 cells and T-lymphocytes from a peripheral fingertip blood sample. The viability of A549 cells sorted in the collecting well was verified by Hoechst33342 and propidium iodide staining. The results show that as many as 100 target cells per minute can be sorted out from the sample solution and thus is particularly suitable for sorting very rare target cells, such as circulating tumor cells. The actuation of the electromagnetic valve has no influence on RPS cell detection and the consequent cell-sorting process. The viability of the collected A549 cell is not impacted by the applied electric field when the cell passes the RPS detection area. The device described in this article is simple, automatic, and label-free and has wide applications in size-based rare target cell sorting for medical diagnostics. © 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Superrenormalizable quantum gravity with complex ghosts

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Modesto, Leonardo, E-mail: lmodesto@fudan.edu.cn [Department of Physics & Center for Field Theory and Particle Physics, Fudan University, 200433, Shanghai (China); Shapiro, Ilya L., E-mail: shapiro@fisica.ufjf.br [Departamento de Fisica – ICE, Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora, 33036-900 Juiz de Fora, Minas Gerais (Brazil); Tomsk State Pedagogical University and Tomsk State University, 634041, Tomsk (Russian Federation)

2016-04-10

We suggest and briefly review a new sort of superrenormalizable models of higher derivative quantum gravity. The higher derivative terms in the action can be introduced in such a way that all the unphysical massive states have complex poles. According to the literature on Lee–Wick quantization, in this case the theory can be formulated as unitary, since all massive ghosts-like degrees of freedom are unstable.

Evaluation of motility, membrane status and DNA integrity of frozen-thawed bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) spermatozoa after sex-sorting and recryopreservation.

Science.gov (United States)

Montano, G A; Kraemer, D C; Love, C C; Robeck, T R; O'Brien, J K

2012-06-01

Artificial insemination (AI) with sex-sorted frozen-thawed spermatozoa has led to enhanced management of ex situ bottlenose dolphin populations. Extended distance of animals from the sorting facility can be overcome by the use of frozen-thawed, sorted and recryopreserved spermatozoa. Although one bottlenose dolphin calf had been born using sexed frozen-thawed spermatozoa derived from frozen semen, a critical evaluation of in vitro sperm quality is needed to justify the routine use of such samples in AI programs. Sperm motility parameters and plasma membrane integrity were influenced by stage of the sex-sorting process, sperm type (non-sorted and sorted) and freezing method (straw and directional) (P0.05) at 24 h. The viability of sorted spermatozoa was higher (Pdolphin spermatozoa undergoing cryopreservation, sorting and recryopreservation are of adequate quality for use in AI.

QMU as an approach to strengthening the predictive capabilities of complex models.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gray, Genetha Anne.; Boggs, Paul T.; Grace, Matthew D.

2010-09-01

Complex systems are made up of multiple interdependent parts, and the behavior of the entire system cannot always be directly inferred from the behavior of the individual parts. They are nonlinear and system responses are not necessarily additive. Examples of complex systems include energy, cyber and telecommunication infrastructures, human and animal social structures, and biological structures such as cells. To meet the goals of infrastructure development, maintenance, and protection for cyber-related complex systems, novel modeling and simulation technology is needed. Sandia has shown success using M&S in the nuclear weapons (NW) program. However, complex systems represent a significant challenge and relative departure from the classical M&S exercises, and many of the scientific and mathematical M&S processes must be re-envisioned. Specifically, in the NW program, requirements and acceptable margins for performance, resilience, and security are well-defined and given quantitatively from the start. The Quantification of Margins and Uncertainties (QMU) process helps to assess whether or not these safety, reliability and performance requirements have been met after a system has been developed. In this sense, QMU is used as a sort of check that requirements have been met once the development process is completed. In contrast, performance requirements and margins may not have been defined a priori for many complex systems, (i.e. the Internet, electrical distribution grids, etc.), particularly not in quantitative terms. This project addresses this fundamental difference by investigating the use of QMU at the start of the design process for complex systems. Three major tasks were completed. First, the characteristics of the cyber infrastructure problem were collected and considered in the context of QMU-based tools. Second, UQ methodologies for the quantification of model discrepancies were considered in the context of statistical models of cyber activity. Third

Below Regulatory Concern Owners Group: An evaluation of dry active waste sorting: Final report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Casey, S.M.

1989-02-01

The objective of this research was to determine the accuracy of manual inspection of Dry Active Waste (DAW). Three studies were conducted at two nuclear power plants in which unmodified DAW waste streams of roughly 10,000 items each were inspected by technicians using pancake probes. Sorting performance was measured unobtrusively by intercepting the ''outflow'' from inspection stations. Verification of sorting accuracy was performed with a prototype, semi-automated sorting table employing a matrix of fixed plastic scintillation detectors. More than 30,000 items of trash were examined, classified, counted, and verified, and the composition of the ''inflow'' to the inspection stations was determined by reconstructing the ''outflow'' components, as determined during verification procedures. The results showed that between 1 and 19% of all items in each of the three DAW waste streams were contaminated at levels ≥100 ccpm. Sixty-two percent of the ''contaminated'' items in Study I, 87% of the contaminated items in Study II, and 97% of the contaminated items in Study III were detected. One-half to one percent of all items classified as <100 ccpm by technicians were actually ≥100 ccpm. False positive rates were very high in all three studies. The production rates and accuracy obtained on the semi-automated plastic scintillation sorting table used during the verification stages of this project greatly exceeded the rates for manual sorting. 9 figs., 13 tabs

Efficiency at Sorting Cards in Compressed Air

Science.gov (United States)

Poulton, E. C.; Catton, M. J.; Carpenter, A.

1964-01-01

At a site where compressed air was being used in the construction of a tunnel, 34 men sorted cards twice, once at normal atmospheric pressure and once at 3½, 2½, or 2 atmospheres absolute pressure. An additional six men sorted cards twice at normal atmospheric pressure. When the task was carried out for the first time, all the groups of men performing at raised pressure were found to yield a reliably greater proportion of very slow responses than the group of men performing at normal pressure. There was reliably more variability in timing at 3½ and 2½ atmospheres absolute than at normal pressure. At 3½ atmospheres absolute the average performance was also reliably slower. When the task was carried out for the second time, exposure to 3½ atmospheres absolute pressure had no reliable effect. Thus compressed air affected performance only while the task was being learnt; it had little effect after practice. No reliable differences were found related to age, to length of experience in compressed air, or to the duration of the exposure to compressed air, which was never less than 10 minutes at 3½ atmospheres absolute pressure. PMID:14180485

Oscillating microbubbles for selective particle sorting in acoustic microfluidic devices

Science.gov (United States)

Rogers, Priscilla; Xu, Lin; Neild, Adrian

2012-05-01

In this study, acoustic waves were used to excite a microbubble for selective particle trapping and sorting. Excitation of the bubble at its volume resonance, as necessary to drive strong fluid microstreaming, resulted in the particles being either selectively attracted to the bubble or continuing to follow the local microstreamlines. The operating principle exploited two acoustic phenomena acting on the particle suspension: the drag force arising from the acoustic microstreaming and the secondary Bjerknes force, i.e. the attractive radiation force produced between an oscillating bubble and a non-buoyant particle. It was also found that standing wave fields within the fluid chamber could be used to globally align bubbles and particles for local particle sorting by the bubble.

Influence of retrospective sorting on image quality in respiratory correlated computed tomography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Guckenberger, Matthias; Weininger, Markus; Wilbert, Juergen; Richter, Anne; Baier, Kurt; Krieger, Thomas; Polat, Buelent; Flentje, Michael

2007-01-01

Purpose: To evaluate the influence of retrospective sorting on image quality in four-dimensional respiratory correlated CT. Materials and methods: Twelve patients with intrapulmonary tumors were examined using a 24-slice CT-scanner in helical mode. Images were reconstructed after retrospective sorting based on five algorithms: amplitude-based sorting with definition of peak-exhalation and peak-inhalation separately/locally for all breathing cycles (LAS) and globally for the time of image acquisition (GAS). Drifts of the breathing signal were corrected in dc-GAS. In phase-based (PS) and cycle-based (CS) algorithm the projections were sorted relative to time. Motion artifacts were scored by a radiologist. The tumor volumes were measured using automatic image segmentation. Results: Averaged over all breathing phases, LAS and PS achieved significantly improved image quality and lowest tumor volume variability compared to GAS, dc-GAS and CS. Imaging redundancy of 5 s was not sufficient for GAS and dc-GAS: missing corresponding amplitude positions in one or several breathing cycles resulted in incomplete reconstruction of peak-ventilation images in 11/12 and 10/12 patients with GAS and dc-GAS, respectively. Limiting the analysis to mid-ventilation phases showed GAS and dc-GAS as the most reliable algorithms. Conclusions: LAS and PS are suggested as a compromise between image quality and radiation dose

A fast-sorting measurement technique to determine decontamination priority

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Distenfeld, C.H.; Brosey, B.; Igarashi, H.

1988-01-01

Recovery of large contaminated buildings, such as the Three Mile Island Unit 2 (TMI-2) reactor building, are complicated by ceilings that can be 12 to 13 m high. Much of the overhead space is filled with conduits, pipes, cable trays, ventilation ducts, and steel structures. The total complex surface can greatly exceed the total surface of walls and floors. Concrete pedestals, heavy steel stands, embedded steel rails, refueling mechanisms, and other similar structures complicate normally accessible areas and impede exposure reduction efforts. Initial recovery of contaminated spaces tends to involve treatment of hot spots and accessible spaces such as floor and wall surfaces. Subsequent decontamination may be less efficient since untreated surfaces, such as in overhead spaces, may be beyond the reach of ordinary decontamination tools. To conserve radiation exposure of recovery personnel, it is important to prioritize the effort so that early work provides maximum exposure reduction. Subsequent exposure reduction can then be carried out with less total exposure to recovery personnel. This favorable scenario depends on identification of key surfaces that most affect the exposure rate. The quick-sort method that was developed is based on the Eberline HP 220A directional survey system

A discrimination model in waste plastics sorting using NIR hyperspectral imaging system.

Science.gov (United States)

Zheng, Yan; Bai, Jiarui; Xu, Jingna; Li, Xiayang; Zhang, Yimin

2018-02-01

Classification of plastics is important in the recycling industry. A plastic identification model in the near infrared spectroscopy wavelength range 1000-2500 nm is proposed for the characterization and sorting of waste plastics using acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), polystyrene (PS), polypropylene (PP), polyethylene (PE), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), and polyvinyl chloride (PVC). The model is built by the feature wavelengths of standard samples applying the principle component analysis (PCA), and the accuracy, property and cross-validation of the model were analyzed. The model just contains a simple equation, center of mass coordinates, and radial distance, with which it is easy to develop classification and sorting software. A hyperspectral imaging system (HIS) with the identification model verified its practical application by using the unknown plastics. Results showed that the identification accuracy of unknown samples is 100%. All results suggested that the discrimination model was potential to an on-line characterization and sorting platform of waste plastics based on HIS. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A Low Cost VLSI Architecture for Spike Sorting Based on Feature Extraction with Peak Search

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yuan-Jyun Chang

2016-12-01

Full Text Available The goal of this paper is to present a novel VLSI architecture for spike sorting with high classification accuracy, low area costs and low power consumption. A novel feature extraction algorithm with low computational complexities is proposed for the design of the architecture. In the feature extraction algorithm, a spike is separated into two portions based on its peak value. The area of each portion is then used as a feature. The algorithm is simple to implement and less susceptible to noise interference. Based on the algorithm, a novel architecture capable of identifying peak values and computing spike areas concurrently is proposed. To further accelerate the computation, a spike can be divided into a number of segments for the local feature computation. The local features are subsequently merged with the global ones by a simple hardware circuit. The architecture can also be easily operated in conjunction with the circuits for commonly-used spike detection algorithms, such as the Non-linear Energy Operator (NEO. The architecture has been implemented by an Application-Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC with 90-nm technology. Comparisons to the existing works show that the proposed architecture is well suited for real-time multi-channel spike detection and feature extraction requiring low hardware area costs, low power consumption and high classification accuracy.

COMPLEX PROMOTIONSIN RETAIL

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

O. Yusupova

2015-10-01

Full Text Available Complex promotions used by retailers introduce to the consumers several rules that must be satisfied in order to get some benefits and usually refer to multiple products (e.g. “buy two, get one free”. Rules of complex promotions can be quite sophisticated and complicated themselves. Since diversity of complex promotions limited only by marketers’ imagination we can observe broad variety of promotions’ rules and representa¬tions of those rules in retailers’ commercials. Such diversification makes no good for fellow scientist who’s trying to sort all type of promotions into the neatly organized classification. Although we can simple add every single set of rules offered by retailers as a separate form of sales promotion it seems not to be the best way of dealing with such a problem. The better way is to realize that mechanisms underlying that variety of promotions are basically the same, namely changes in demand or quantity demanded. Those two concepts alone provide powerful insight into classification of complex promotions and allow us to comprehend the variety of promotions offered by marketers nowadays.

Computational cell model based on autonomous cell movement regulated by cell-cell signalling successfully recapitulates the "inside and outside" pattern of cell sorting

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ajioka Itsuki

2007-09-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Development of multicellular organisms proceeds from a single fertilized egg as the combined effect of countless numbers of cellular interactions among highly dynamic cells. Since at least a reminiscent pattern of morphogenesis can be recapitulated in a reproducible manner in reaggregation cultures of dissociated embryonic cells, which is known as cell sorting, the cells themselves must possess some autonomous cell behaviors that assure specific and reproducible self-organization. Understanding of this self-organized dynamics of heterogeneous cell population seems to require some novel approaches so that the approaches bridge a gap between molecular events and morphogenesis in developmental and cell biology. A conceptual cell model in a computer may answer that purpose. We constructed a dynamical cell model based on autonomous cell behaviors, including cell shape, growth, division, adhesion, transformation, and motility as well as cell-cell signaling. The model gives some insights about what cellular behaviors make an appropriate global pattern of the cell population. Results We applied the model to "inside and outside" pattern of cell-sorting, in which two different embryonic cell types within a randomly mixed aggregate are sorted so that one cell type tends to gather in the central region of the aggregate and the other cell type surrounds the first cell type. Our model can modify the above cell behaviors by varying parameters related to them. We explored various parameter sets with which the "inside and outside" pattern could be achieved. The simulation results suggested that direction of cell movement responding to its neighborhood and the cell's mobility are important for this specific rearrangement. Conclusion We constructed an in silico cell model that mimics autonomous cell behaviors and applied it to cell sorting, which is a simple and appropriate phenomenon exhibiting self-organization of cell population. The model

System for sorting microscopic objects using electromagnetic radiation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

2013-01-01

There is presented a system 10,100 for sorting microscopic objects 76, 78, 80, where the system comprises a fluid channel 66 with an inlet 68 and an outlet 70, where the fluid channel is arranged for allowing the fluid flow to be laminar. The system furthermore comprises a detection system 52 whi...

Financial feasibility of a log sort yard handling small-diameter logs: A preliminary study

Science.gov (United States)

Han-Sup Han; E. M. (Ted) Bilek; John (Rusty) Dramm; Dan Loeffler; Dave Calkin

2011-01-01

The value and use of the trees removed in fuel reduction thinning and restoration treatments could be enhanced if the wood were effectively evaluated and sorted for quality and highest value before delivery to the next manufacturing destination. This article summarizes a preliminary financial feasibility analysis of a log sort yard that would serve as a log market to...

Volume reduction of dry active waste by use of a waste sorting table at the Brunswick nuclear power plant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Snead, P.B.

1988-01-01

Carolina Power and Light Company's Brunswick nuclear power plant has been using a National Nuclear Corporation Model WST-18 Waste Sorting Table to monitor and sort dry active waste for segregating uncontaminated material as a means of low-level waste volume reduction. The WST-18 features 18 large-area, solid scintillation detectors arranged in a 3 x 6 array underneath a sorting/monitoring surface that is shielded from background radiation. An 11-week study at Brunswick showed that the use of the waste sorting table resulted in dramatic improvements in both productivity (man-hours expended per cubic foot of waste processed) and monitoring quality over the previous hand-probe frisking method. Use of the sorting table since the study has confirmed its effectiveness in volume reduction. The waste sorting table paid for its operation in volume reduction savings alone, without accounting for the additional savings from recovering reusable items

Exposure to airborne fungi during sorting of recyclable plastics in waste treatment facilities

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kristýna Černá

2017-02-01

Full Text Available Background: In working environment of waste treatment facilities, employees are exposed to high concentrations of airborne microorganisms. Fungi constitute an essential part of them. This study aims at evaluating the diurnal variation in concentrations and species composition of the fungal contamination in 2 plastic waste sorting facilities in different seasons. Material and Methods: Air samples from the 2 sorting facilities were collected through the membrane filters method on 4 different types of cultivation media. Isolated fungi were classified to genera or species by using a light microscopy. Results: Overall, the highest concentrations of airborne fungi were recorded in summer (9.1×103–9.0×105 colony-forming units (CFU/m3, while the lowest ones in winter (2.7×103–2.9×105 CFU/m3. The concentration increased from the beginning of the work shift and reached a plateau after 6–7 h of the sorting. The most frequently isolated airborne fungi were those of the genera Penicillium and Aspergillus. The turnover of fungal species between seasons was relatively high as well as changes in the number of detected species, but potentially toxigenic and allergenic fungi were detected in both facilities during all seasons. Conclusions: Generally, high concentrations of airborne fungi were detected in the working environment of plastic waste sorting facilities, which raises the question of health risk taken by the employees. Based on our results, the use of protective equipment by employees is recommended and preventive measures should be introduced into the working environment of waste sorting facilities to reduce health risk for employees. Med Pr 2017;68(1:1–9

Development of nondestructive sorting method for brown bloody eggs using VIS/NIR spectroscopy

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lee, Hong Seock; Kim, Dae Yong; Kandpal, Lalit Mohan; Lee, Sang Dae; Cho, Byoung Kwan [Dept. of Biosystems Machinery Engineering, College of Agriculture and Life Science, Chungnam National University, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of); Mo, Chang Yeun; Hong, Soon Jung [Rural Development Administration, Jeonju (Korea, Republic of)

2014-02-15

The aim of this study was the non-destructive evaluation of bloody eggs using VIS/NIR spectroscopy. The bloody egg samples used to develop the sorting mode were produced by injecting chicken blood into the edges of egg yolks. Blood amounts of 0.1, 0.7, 0.04, and 0.01 mL were used for the bloody egg samples. The wavelength range for the VIS/NIR spectroscopy was 471 to 1154 nm, and the spectral resolution was 1.5nm. For the measurement system, the position of the light source was set to, and the distance between the light source and samples was set to 100 mm. The minimum exposure time of the light source was set to 30 ms to ensure the fast sorting of bloody eggs and prevent heating damage of the egg samples. Partial least squares-discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) was used for the spectral data obtained from VIS/NIR spectroscopy. The classification accuracies of the sorting models developed with blood samples of 0.1, 0.07, 0.04, and 0.01 mL were 97.9%, 98.9%, 94.8%, and 86.45%, respectively. In this study, a novel nondestructive sorting technique was developed to detect bloody brown eggs using spectral data obtained from VIS/NIR spectroscopy.

INTERACTING MANY-PARTICLE SYSTEMS OF DIFFERENT PARTICLE TYPES CONVERGE TO A SORTED STATE

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kokkendorff, Simon Lyngby; Starke, Jens; Hummel, N.

2010-01-01

We consider a model class of interacting many-particle systems consisting of different types of particles defined by a gradient flow. The corresponding potential expresses attractive and repulsive interactions between particles of the same type and different types, respectively. The introduced...... system converges by self-organized pattern formation to a sorted state where particles of the same type share a common position and those of different types are separated from each other. This is proved in the sense that we show that the property of being sorted is asymptotically stable and all other...... states are unstable. The models are motivated from physics, chemistry, and biology, and the principal investigations can be useful for many systems with interacting particles or agents. The models match particularly well a system in neuroscience, namely the axonal pathfinding and sorting in the olfactory...

Leucine-based receptor sorting motifs are dependent on the spacing relative to the plasma membrane

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Geisler, C; Dietrich, J; Nielsen, B L

1998-01-01

Many integral membrane proteins contain leucine-based motifs within their cytoplasmic domains that mediate internalization and intracellular sorting. Two types of leucine-based motifs have been identified. One type is dependent on phosphorylation, whereas the other type, which includes an acidic...... amino acid, is constitutively active. In this study, we have investigated how the spacing relative to the plasma membrane affects the function of both types of leucine-based motifs. For phosphorylation-dependent leucine-based motifs, a minimal spacing of 7 residues between the plasma membrane...... and the phospho-acceptor was required for phosphorylation and thereby activation of the motifs. For constitutively active leucine-based motifs, a minimal spacing of 6 residues between the plasma membrane and the acidic residue was required for optimal activity of the motifs. In addition, we found that the acidic...

How many neurons can we see with current spike sorting algorithms?

Science.gov (United States)

Pedreira, Carlos; Martinez, Juan; Ison, Matias J; Quian Quiroga, Rodrigo

2012-10-15

Recent studies highlighted the disagreement between the typical number of neurons observed with extracellular recordings and the ones to be expected based on anatomical and physiological considerations. This disagreement has been mainly attributed to the presence of sparsely firing neurons. However, it is also possible that this is due to limitations of the spike sorting algorithms used to process the data. To address this issue, we used realistic simulations of extracellular recordings and found a relatively poor spike sorting performance for simulations containing a large number of neurons. In fact, the number of correctly identified neurons for single-channel recordings showed an asymptotic behavior saturating at about 8-10 units, when up to 20 units were present in the data. This performance was significantly poorer for neurons with low firing rates, as these units were twice more likely to be missed than the ones with high firing rates in simulations containing many neurons. These results uncover one of the main reasons for the relatively low number of neurons found in extracellular recording and also stress the importance of further developments of spike sorting algorithms. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Sorting, Searching, and Simulation in the MapReduce Framework

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Goodrich, Michael T.; Sitchinava, Nodar; Zhang, Qin

2011-01-01

We study the MapReduce framework from an algorithmic standpoint, providing a generalization of the previous algorithmic models for MapReduce. We present optimal solutions for the fundamental problems of all-prefix-sums, sorting and multi-searching. Additionally, we design optimal simulations...

Spike sorting based upon machine learning algorithms (SOMA).

Science.gov (United States)

Horton, P M; Nicol, A U; Kendrick, K M; Feng, J F

2007-02-15

We have developed a spike sorting method, using a combination of various machine learning algorithms, to analyse electrophysiological data and automatically determine the number of sampled neurons from an individual electrode, and discriminate their activities. We discuss extensions to a standard unsupervised learning algorithm (Kohonen), as using a simple application of this technique would only identify a known number of clusters. Our extra techniques automatically identify the number of clusters within the dataset, and their sizes, thereby reducing the chance of misclassification. We also discuss a new pre-processing technique, which transforms the data into a higher dimensional feature space revealing separable clusters. Using principal component analysis (PCA) alone may not achieve this. Our new approach appends the features acquired using PCA with features describing the geometric shapes that constitute a spike waveform. To validate our new spike sorting approach, we have applied it to multi-electrode array datasets acquired from the rat olfactory bulb, and from the sheep infero-temporal cortex, and using simulated data. The SOMA sofware is available at http://www.sussex.ac.uk/Users/pmh20/spikes.

Natural Selection Is a Sorting Process: What Does that Mean?

Science.gov (United States)

Price, Rebecca M.

2013-01-01

To learn why natural selection acts only on existing variation, students categorize processes as either creative or sorting. This activity helps students confront the misconception that adaptations evolve because species need them.

Numerical Model of Streaming DEP for Stem Cell Sorting

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rucha Natu

2016-11-01

Full Text Available Neural stem cells are of special interest due to their potential in neurogenesis to treat spinal cord injuries and other nervous disorders. Flow cytometry, a common technique used for cell sorting, is limited due to the lack of antigens and labels that are specific enough to stem cells of interest. Dielectrophoresis (DEP is a label-free separation technique that has been recently demonstrated for the enrichment of neural stem/progenitor cells. Here we use numerical simulation to investigate the use of streaming DEP for the continuous sorting of neural stem/progenitor cells. Streaming DEP refers to the focusing of cells into streams by equilibrating the dielectrophoresis and drag forces acting on them. The width of the stream should be maximized to increase throughput while the separation between streams must be widened to increase efficiency during retrieval. The aim is to understand how device geometry and experimental variables affect the throughput and efficiency of continuous sorting of SC27 stem cells, a neurogenic progenitor, from SC23 cells, an astrogenic progenitor. We define efficiency as the ratio between the number of SC27 cells over total number of cells retrieved in the streams, and throughput as the number of SC27 cells retrieved in the streams compared to their total number introduced to the device. The use of cylindrical electrodes as tall as the channel yields streams featuring >98% of SC27 cells and width up to 80 µm when using a flow rate of 10 µL/min and sample cell concentration up to 105 cells/mL.

Mineral-PET Kimberlite sorting by nuclear-medical technology

CERN Document Server

Ballestrero, S; Cafferty, L; Caveney, R; Connell, SH; Cook, M; Dalton, M; Gopal, H; Ives, N; Lee, C A; Mampe, W; Phoku, M; Roodt, A; Sibande, W; Sellschop, J P F; Topkin, J; Unwucholaa, D A

2010-01-01

A revolutionary new technology for diamond bearing rock sorting which has its roots in medical-nuclear physics has been taken through a substantial part of the R&D phase. This has led to the construction of the technology demonstrator. Experiments using the technology demonstrator and experiments at a hospital have established the scientific and technological viability of the project.

Ore sorting using natural gamma radiation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Clark, G.J.; Dickson, B.L.; Gray, F.E.

1980-01-01

A method of sorting an ore which emits natural gamma radiation is described, comprising the steps of: (a) mining the ore, (b) placing, substantially at the mining location, the sampled or mined ore on to a moving conveyor belt, (c) measuring the natural gamma emission, water content and mass of the ore while the ore is on the conveyor belt, (d) using the gamma, water content and mass measurements to determine the ore grade, and (e) directing the ore to a location characteristic of its grade when it leaves the conveyor belt

Pure chromosome-specific PCR libraries from single sorted chromosomes

NARCIS (Netherlands)

VanDevanter, D. R.; Choongkittaworn, N. M.; Dyer, K. A.; Aten, J. A.; Otto, P.; Behler, C.; Bryant, E. M.; Rabinovitch, P. S.

1994-01-01

Chromosome-specific DNA libraries can be very useful in molecular and cytogenetic genome mapping studies. We have developed a rapid and simple method for the generation of chromosome-specific DNA sequences that relies on polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification of a single flow-sorted

Material recycling of post-consumer polyolefin bulk plastics: Influences on waste sorting and treatment processes in consideration of product qualities achievable.

Science.gov (United States)

Pfeisinger, Christian

2017-02-01

Material recycling of post-consumer bulk plastics made up of polyolefins is well developed. In this article, it is examined which effects on waste sorting and treatment processes influence the qualities of polyolefin-recyclats. It is shown that the properties and their changes during the product life-cycle of a polyolefin are defined by its way of polymerisation, its nature as a thermoplast, additives, other compound and composite materials, but also by the mechanical treatments during the production, its use where contact to foreign materials is possible and the waste sorting and treatment processes. Because of the sum of the effects influencing the quality of polyolefin-recyclats, conclusions are drawn for the material recycling of polyolefins to reach high qualities of their recyclats. Also, legal requirements like the EU regulation 1907/2006 concerning the registration, evaluation, authorisation and restrictions on chemicals are considered.

Flow cytometric sex sorting affects CD4 membrane distribution and binding of exogenous DNA on bovine sperm cells.

Science.gov (United States)

Domingues, William Borges; da Silveira, Tony Leandro Rezende; Komninou, Eliza Rossi; Monte, Leonardo Garcia; Remião, Mariana Härter; Dellagostin, Odir Antônio; Corcini, Carine Dahl; Varela Junior, Antônio Sergio; Seixas, Fabiana Kömmling; Collares, Tiago; Campos, Vinicius Farias

2017-08-01

Bovine sex-sorted sperm have been commercialized and successfully used for the production of transgenic embryos of the desired sex through the sperm-mediated gene transfer (SMGT) technique. However, sex-sorted sperm show a reduced ability to internalize exogenous DNA. The interaction between sperm cells and the exogenous DNA has been reported in other species to be a CD4-like molecule-dependent process. The flow cytometry-based sex-sorting process subjects the spermatozoa to different stresses causing changes in the cell membrane. The aim of this study was to elucidate the relationship between the redistribution of CD4-like molecules and binding of exogenous DNA to sex-sorted bovine sperm. In the first set of experiments, the membrane phospholipid disorder and the redistribution of the CD4 were evaluated. The second set of experiments was conducted to investigate the effect of CD4 redistribution on the mechanism of binding of exogenous DNA to sperm cells and the efficiency of lipofection in sex-sorted bovine sperm. Sex-sorting procedure increased the membrane phospholipid disorder and induced the redistribution of CD4-like molecules. Both X-sorted and Y-sorted sperm had decreased DNA bound to membrane in comparison with the unsorted sperm; however, the binding of the exogenous DNA was significantly increased with the addition of liposomes. Moreover, we demonstrated that the number of sperm-bound exogenous DNA was decreased when these cells were preincubated with anti-bovine CD4 monoclonal antibody, supporting our hypothesis that CD4-like molecules indeed play a crucial role in the process of exogenous DNA/bovine sperm cells interaction.

Design and control of multifunctional sorting and training platform based on PLC control

Science.gov (United States)

Wan, Hongqiang; Ge, Shuai; Han, Peiying; Li, Fancong; Zhang, Simiao

2018-05-01

Electromechanical integration, as a multi-disciplinary subject, has been paid much attention by universities and is widely used in the automation production of enterprises. Aiming at the problem of the lack of control among enterprises and the lack of training among colleges and universities, this paper presents a design of multifunctional sorting training platform based on PLC control. Firstly, the structure of the platform is determined and three-dimensional modeling is done. Then design the platform's aerodynamic control and electrical control. Finally, realize the platform sorting function through PLC programming and configuration software development. The training platform can be used to design the practical training experiment, which has a strong advance and pertinence in the electromechanical integration teaching. At the same time, the platform makes full use of modular thinking to make the sorting modules more flexible. Compared with the traditional training platform, its teaching effect is more significant.

Teleoperated robotic sorting system

Science.gov (United States)

Roos, Charles E.; Sommer, Edward J.; Parrish, Robert H.; Russell, James R.

2000-01-01

A method and apparatus are disclosed for classifying materials utilizing a computerized touch sensitive screen or other computerized pointing device for operator identification and electronic marking of spatial coordinates of materials to be extracted. An operator positioned at a computerized touch sensitive screen views electronic images of the mixture of materials to be sorted as they are conveyed past a sensor array which transmits sequences of images of the mixture either directly or through a computer to the touch sensitive display screen. The operator manually "touches" objects displayed on the screen to be extracted from the mixture thereby registering the spatial coordinates of the objects within the computer. The computer then tracks the registered objects as they are conveyed and directs automated devices including mechanical means such as air jets, robotic arms, or other mechanical diverters to extract the registered objects.

Are Korean Industry-Sorted Portfolios Mean Reverting?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Seongman Moon

2016-06-01

Full Text Available This paper tests the weak-form efficient market hypothesis for Korean industry-sorted portfolios. Based on a panel variance ratio approach, we find significant mean reversion of stock returns over long horizons in the pre Asian currency crisis period but little evidence in the post-crisis period. Our empirical findings are consistent with the fact that Korea accelerated its integration with international financial market by implementing extensive capital liberalization since the crisis.

Impact of respiratory-correlated CT sorting algorithms on the choice of margin definition for free-breathing lung radiotherapy treatments.

Science.gov (United States)

Thengumpallil, Sheeba; Germond, Jean-François; Bourhis, Jean; Bochud, François; Moeckli, Raphaël

2016-06-01

To investigate the impact of Toshiba phase- and amplitude-sorting algorithms on the margin strategies for free-breathing lung radiotherapy treatments in the presence of breathing variations. 4D CT of a sphere inside a dynamic thorax phantom was acquired. The 4D CT was reconstructed according to the phase- and amplitude-sorting algorithms. The phantom was moved by reproducing amplitude, frequency, and a mix of amplitude and frequency variations. Artefact analysis was performed for Mid-Ventilation and ITV-based strategies on the images reconstructed by phase- and amplitude-sorting algorithms. The target volume deviation was assessed by comparing the target volume acquired during irregular motion to the volume acquired during regular motion. The amplitude-sorting algorithm shows reduced artefacts for only amplitude variations while the phase-sorting algorithm for only frequency variations. For amplitude and frequency variations, both algorithms perform similarly. Most of the artefacts are blurring and incomplete structures. We found larger artefacts and volume differences for the Mid-Ventilation with respect to the ITV strategy, resulting in a higher relative difference of the surface distortion value which ranges between maximum 14.6% and minimum 4.1%. The amplitude- is superior to the phase-sorting algorithm in the reduction of motion artefacts for amplitude variations while phase-sorting for frequency variations. A proper choice of 4D CT sorting algorithm is important in order to reduce motion artefacts, especially if Mid-Ventilation strategy is used. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Exposure to airborne fungi during sorting of recyclable plastics in waste treatment facilities.

Science.gov (United States)

Černá, Kristýna; Wittlingerová, Zdeňka; Zimová, Magdaléna; Janovský, Zdeněk

2017-02-28

In working environment of waste treatment facilities, employees are exposed to high concentrations of airborne microorganisms. Fungi constitute an essential part of them. This study aims at evaluating the diurnal variation in concentrations and species composition of the fungal contamination in 2 plastic waste sorting facilities in different seasons. Air samples from the 2 sorting facilities were collected through the membrane filters method on 4 different types of cultivation media. Isolated fungi were classified to genera or species by using a light microscopy. Overall, the highest concentrations of airborne fungi were recorded in summer (9.1×103-9.0×105 colony-forming units (CFU)/m3), while the lowest ones in winter (2.7×103-2.9×105 CFU/m3). The concentration increased from the beginning of the work shift and reached a plateau after 6-7 h of the sorting. The most frequently isolated airborne fungi were those of the genera Penicillium and Aspergillus. The turnover of fungal species between seasons was relatively high as well as changes in the number of detected species, but potentially toxigenic and allergenic fungi were detected in both facilities during all seasons. Generally, high concentrations of airborne fungi were detected in the working environment of plastic waste sorting facilities, which raises the question of health risk taken by the employees. Based on our results, the use of protective equipment by employees is recommended and preventive measures should be introduced into the working environment of waste sorting facilities to reduce health risk for employees. Med Pr 2017;68(1):1-9. This work is available in Open Access model and licensed under a CC BY-NC 3.0 PL license.

Using pico-LCoS SLMs for high speed cell sorting

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bañas, Andrew Rafael; Aabo, Thomas; Palima, Darwin

2012-01-01

We propose the use of consumer pico projectors as cost effective spatial light modulators in cell sorting applications. The matched filtering Generalized Phase Contrast (mGPC) beam shaping method is used to produce high intensity optical spots for trapping and catapulting cells. A pico projector......’s liquid crystal on silicon (LCoS) chip was used as a binary phase spatial light modulator (SLM) wherein correlation target patterns are addressed. Experiments using the binary LCoS phase SLM with a fabricated Pyrex matched filter demonstrate the generation of intense optical spots that can potentially...... be used for cell sorting. Numerical studies also show mGPC’s robustness to phase aberrations in the LCoS device, and its ability to outperform a top hat beam with the same power....

A degradation-based sorting method for lithium-ion battery reuse.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hao Chen

Full Text Available In a world where millions of people are dependent on batteries to provide them with convenient and portable energy, battery recycling is of the utmost importance. In this paper, we developed a new method to sort 18650 Lithium-ion batteries in large quantities and in real time for harvesting used cells with enough capacity for battery reuse. Internal resistance and capacity tests were conducted as a basis for comparison with a novel degradation-based method based on X-ray radiographic scanning and digital image contrast computation. The test results indicate that the sorting accuracy of the test cells is about 79% and the execution time of our algorithm is at a level of 200 milliseconds, making our method a potential real-time solution for reusing the remaining capacity in good used cells.

Bicaudal-D1 regulates the intracellular sorting and signalling of neurotrophin receptors.

Science.gov (United States)

Terenzio, Marco; Golding, Matthew; Russell, Matthew R G; Wicher, Krzysztof B; Rosewell, Ian; Spencer-Dene, Bradley; Ish-Horowicz, David; Schiavo, Giampietro

2014-07-17

We have identified a new function for the dynein adaptor Bicaudal D homolog 1 (BICD1) by screening a siRNA library for genes affecting the dynamics of neurotrophin receptor-containing endosomes in motor neurons (MNs). Depleting BICD1 increased the intracellular accumulation of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF)-activated TrkB and p75 neurotrophin receptor (p75(NTR)) by disrupting the endosomal sorting, reducing lysosomal degradation and increasing the co-localisation of these neurotrophin receptors with retromer-associated sorting nexin 1. The resulting re-routing of active receptors increased their recycling to the plasma membrane and altered the repertoire of signalling-competent TrkB isoforms and p75(NTR) available for ligand binding on the neuronal surface. This resulted in attenuated, but more sustained, AKT activation in response to BDNF stimulation. These data, together with our observation that Bicd1 expression is restricted to the developing nervous system when neurotrophin receptor expression peaks, indicate that BICD1 regulates neurotrophin signalling by modulating the endosomal sorting of internalised ligand-activated receptors. © 2014 The Authors.

Complex rectal polyps: other treatment modalities required when offering a transanal endoscopic microsurgery service.

LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

Joyce, Myles R

2011-09-01

Complex rectal polyps may present a clinical challenge. The study aim was to assess different treatment modalities required in the management of patients referred for transanal endoscopic microsurgery.

Bidirectional sorting of flocking particles in the presence of asymmetric barriers.

Science.gov (United States)

Drocco, Jeffrey A; Olson Reichhardt, C J; Reichhardt, C

2012-05-01

We demonstrate numerically bidirectional sorting of flocking particles interacting with an array of V-shaped asymmetric barriers. Each particle aligns with the average swimming direction of its neighbors according to the Vicsek model and experiences additional steric interactions as well as repulsion from the fixed barriers. We show that particles preferentially localize to one side of the barrier array over time and that the direction of this rectification can be reversed by adjusting the particle-particle exclusion radius or the noise term in the equations of motion. These results provide a conceptual basis for isolation and sorting of single-cell and multicellular organisms that move collectively according to flocking-type interaction rules.

Phosphate buffer and salt medium concentrations affect the inactivation of T4 phage by platinum(II) complexes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pedersen, Henrik B.; Josephsen, Jens; Kerszman, Gustaw

1985-01-01

-Tris) buffer and HEPES buffer. The phosphate abolishes the antiphage activity of the platinum complexes probably by some sort of complex formation. This together with dimerization reactions qualitatively explains the tailing off of the phage inactivation rate. High concentrations of NaNO3 as the salt medium...

Bears in a forest of gene trees: phylogenetic inference is complicated by incomplete lineage sorting and gene flow.

Science.gov (United States)

Kutschera, Verena E; Bidon, Tobias; Hailer, Frank; Rodi, Julia L; Fain, Steven R; Janke, Axel

2014-08-01

Ursine bears are a mammalian subfamily that comprises six morphologically and ecologically distinct extant species. Previous phylogenetic analyses of concatenated nuclear genes could not resolve all relationships among bears, and appeared to conflict with the mitochondrial phylogeny. Evolutionary processes such as incomplete lineage sorting and introgression can cause gene tree discordance and complicate phylogenetic inferences, but are not accounted for in phylogenetic analyses of concatenated data. We generated a high-resolution data set of autosomal introns from several individuals per species and of Y-chromosomal markers. Incorporating intraspecific variability in coalescence-based phylogenetic and gene flow estimation approaches, we traced the genealogical history of individual alleles. Considerable heterogeneity among nuclear loci and discordance between nuclear and mitochondrial phylogenies were found. A species tree with divergence time estimates indicated that ursine bears diversified within less than 2 My. Consistent with a complex branching order within a clade of Asian bear species, we identified unidirectional gene flow from Asian black into sloth bears. Moreover, gene flow detected from brown into American black bears can explain the conflicting placement of the American black bear in mitochondrial and nuclear phylogenies. These results highlight that both incomplete lineage sorting and introgression are prominent evolutionary forces even on time scales up to several million years. Complex evolutionary patterns are not adequately captured by strictly bifurcating models, and can only be fully understood when analyzing multiple independently inherited loci in a coalescence framework. Phylogenetic incongruence among gene trees hence needs to be recognized as a biologically meaningful signal. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution.

Job-Sorting Assignment to Assess Cream Liqueur Brand Image

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Adriana Gámbaro

2017-02-01

Full Text Available Projective techniques rely on a stimulus to elicit from respondents projections of their beliefs onto other people or objects, thus reflecting their own perceptions, feelings and motivations. In this work, the job-sorting technique, in combination with Aaker’s personality scale, was applied to the study of cream liqueur brand image in Uruguay and Costa Rica. Eight jobs with different levels of intellectual complexity, salary and physical demands were selected. In each of the two countries, three (two imported and one locally made liqueurs were presented to 90 consumers with similar socio-demographic characteristics. Respondents were told to select the job, profession or occupation (JPO that best fitted each brand. After JPO selection, respondents were asked to select from a list of 88 personality traits all the words that they considered applicable to each JPO selected. The JPOs associated with the different brands showed no similarity between Uruguayan and Costa Rican respondents, but the personality traits associated with the two imported brands were similar in both countries, supporting the use of JPOs as metaphors in the study of brand images. The brand image of locally made liqueurs was associated with traits that differed clearly from those of the imported brands. These results provide relevant information for the design of marketing strategies.

Early planting and hand sorting effectively controls seed-borne fungi in farm-retained bean seed

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ernest Dube

2014-11-01

Full Text Available Home-saved bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L. seed can be hand-sorted to remove discoloured seed, thereby reducing the level of contamination by certain seed-borne fungi and improving seed germination. In this study, the effect of planting date on the infection and discolouration of bean seed by seed-borne fungi was investigated in order to improve the quality of hand-sorted, farm-retained bean seeds used by resource poor smallholder farmers. The germination quality and level of seed-borne fungi in hand-sorted first-generation bean seed harvested from an early-, mid- and late-summer season planted crop was therefore assessed. The highest percentage of discoloured seed (68% was obtained from the mid-summer season planting. Non-discoloured seed from early- and late-season plantings had significantly (p"less than"0.001 higher normal germination (82% and 77%, respectively than that from the mid-season planting date (58%. Irrespective of planting date, unsorted seed and discoloured seed had higher levels of infection by Fusarium spp. and Phaeoisariopsis spp. than the non-discoloured seed. Removal of discoloured seed by hand sorting eliminated Rhizoctonia spp. from all seed lots. Farmers can eliminate this pathogen by simply removing discoloured seed. Non-discoloured seed from the early-planted crop had the lowest level of infection by Fusarium spp. and Phaeoisariopsis spp. The results indicate that planting date is an important consideration in improving the quality of hand-sorted farm-retained bean seed.

Low power and high accuracy spike sorting microprocessor with on-line interpolation and re-alignment in 90 nm CMOS process.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Tung-Chien; Ma, Tsung-Chuan; Chen, Yun-Yu; Chen, Liang-Gee

2012-01-01

Accurate spike sorting is an important issue for neuroscientific and neuroprosthetic applications. The sorting of spikes depends on the features extracted from the neural waveforms, and a better sorting performance usually comes with a higher sampling rate (SR). However for the long duration experiments on free-moving subjects, the miniaturized and wireless neural recording ICs are the current trend, and the compromise on sorting accuracy is usually made by a lower SR for the lower power consumption. In this paper, we implement an on-chip spike sorting processor with integrated interpolation hardware in order to improve the performance in terms of power versus accuracy. According to the fabrication results in 90nm process, if the interpolation is appropriately performed during the spike sorting, the system operated at the SR of 12.5 k samples per second (sps) can outperform the one not having interpolation at 25 ksps on both accuracy and power.

Soil sorting, new approach to site remediation management

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bramlitt, E.T.; Woods, J.A.; Dillon, M.J.

1996-01-01

Soil sorting is the technology which conveys soil beneath contaminant detectors and, based on contaminant signal, automatically toggles a gate at the conveyor end to send soil with contamination above a guideline to a separate location from soil which meets the guideline. The technology was perfected for remediation of sites having soils with radioactive contamination, but it is applicable to other contaminants when instrumental methods exist for rapid contaminant detection at levels of concern. This paper examines the three methods for quantifying contamination in soil in support of site remediation management. Examples are discussed where the primary contaminant is plutonium, a radioactive substance and source of nuclear energy which can be hazardous to health when in the environment without controls. Field survey instruments are very sensitive to plutonium and can detect it in soil at levels below a part per billion, and there are a variety of soils which have been contaminated by plutonium and thoroughly investigated. The lessons learned with plutonium are applicable to other types of contaminants and site remediations. The paper concludes that soil sorting can be the most cost effective approach to site remediation, and it leads to the best overall cleanup

Sorting mutual funds with respect to process-oriented social responsibility: A FLOWSORT application

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tim Verheyden

2014-08-01

Full Text Available We establish a robust FLOWSORT-based tool to sort mutual funds with respect to process-oriented social responsibility and recommend the use of limiting profiles with open classes. The tool provides an alternative for the limited dichotomous classification of funds, i.e. socially responsible investing (SRI versus conventional funds. By allowing for more heterogeneity in social responsibility the sorting tool is promising for scholars to improve fund performance measurements, and useful for governments to better regulate the supply of SRI products.

Udpegning af potentielle sorte pletter via floating car data

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Splid Svendsen, Martin; Tradisauskas, Nerius; Lahrmann, Harry

2008-01-01

Formålet med dette paper er at undersøge, om det er muligt at udpege potentielle sorte pletter via floating car data. Der er i projektet udført teoretiske litteraturstudier for at skabe et grundlag for det senere analysearbejde, som danner baggrund for analysearbejdet. Dataene stammer fra Aalborg...

Algorithms for the Automatic Classification and Sorting of Conifers in the Garden Nursery Industry

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Petri, Stig

with the classification and sorting of plants using machine vision have been discussed as an introduction to the work reported here. The use of Nordmann firs as a basis for evaluating the developed algorithms naturally introduces a bias towards this species in the algorithms, but steps have been taken throughout...... was used as the basis for evaluating the constructed feature extraction algorithms. Through an analysis of the construction of a machine vision system suitable for classifying and sorting plants, the needs with regard to physical frame, lighting system, camera and software algorithms have been uncovered......The ultimate purpose of this work is the development of general feature extraction algorithms useful for the classification and sorting of plants in the garden nursery industry. Narrowing the area of focus to bare-root plants, more specifically Nordmann firs, the scientific literature dealing...

T2-weighted four dimensional magnetic resonance imaging with result-driven phase sorting

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu, Yilin; Yin, Fang-Fang; Cai, Jing; Czito, Brian G.; Bashir, Mustafa R.

2015-01-01

Purpose: T2-weighted MRI provides excellent tumor-to-tissue contrast for target volume delineation in radiation therapy treatment planning. This study aims at developing a novel T2-weighted retrospective four dimensional magnetic resonance imaging (4D-MRI) phase sorting technique for imaging organ/tumor respiratory motion. Methods: A 2D fast T2-weighted half-Fourier acquisition single-shot turbo spin-echo MR sequence was used for image acquisition of 4D-MRI, with a frame rate of 2–3 frames/s. Respiratory motion was measured using an external breathing monitoring device. A phase sorting method was developed to sort the images by their corresponding respiratory phases. Besides, a result-driven strategy was applied to effectively utilize redundant images in the case when multiple images were allocated to a bin. This strategy, selecting the image with minimal amplitude error, will generate the most representative 4D-MRI. Since we are using a different image acquisition mode for 4D imaging (the sequential image acquisition scheme) with the conventionally used cine or helical image acquisition scheme, the 4D dataset sufficient condition was not obviously and directly predictable. An important challenge of the proposed technique was to determine the number of repeated scans (N_R) required to obtain sufficient phase information at each slice position. To tackle this challenge, the authors first conducted computer simulations using real-time position management respiratory signals of the 29 cancer patients under an IRB-approved retrospective study to derive the relationships between N_R and the following factors: number of slices (N_S), number of 4D-MRI respiratory bins (N_B), and starting phase at image acquisition (P_0). To validate the authors’ technique, 4D-MRI acquisition and reconstruction were simulated on a 4D digital extended cardiac-torso (XCAT) human phantom using simulation derived parameters. Twelve healthy volunteers were involved in an IRB-approved study

Gamma radiation effects on different sorts of onions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Burov, B.A.

1977-01-01

Gamma radiation effects on different sorts of onions were studied to improve ways of obtaining agricultural vegetation mutations and to find out the genotype role in induced mutagenesis. It is established that rhizome onion seeds are more radiosensitive than bulbous ones, ephemeroide form seeds are most stable among bulbous plants. Table data on dependence of seed germination and plant survival on radiation dose are presented

Incentives versus sorting in tournaments: evidence from a field experiment

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Leuven, E.; Oosterbeek, H.; Sonnemans, J.; van der Klaauw, B.

2011-01-01

Existing field evidence on rank-order tournaments typically does not allow disentangling incentive and sorting effects. We conduct a field experiment illustrating the confounding effect. Students in an introductory microeconomics course selected themselves into tournaments with low, medium, or high

Complex-Wide Waste Flow Analysis V1.0 verification and validation report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hsu, K.M.; Lundeen, A.S.; Oswald, K.B.; Shropshire, D.E.; Robinson, J.M.; West, W.H.

1997-01-01

The complex-wide waste flow analysis model (CWWFA) was developed to assist the Department of Energy (DOE) Environmental Management (EM) Office of Science and Technology (EM-50) to evaluate waste management scenarios with emphasis on identifying and prioritizing technology development opportunities to reduce waste flows and public risk. In addition, the model was intended to support the needs of the Complex-Wide Environmental Integration (EMI) team supporting the DOE's Accelerating Cleanup: 2006 Plan. CWWFA represents an integrated environmental modeling system that covers the life cycle of waste management activities including waste generation, interim process storage, retrieval, characterization and sorting, waste preparation and processing, packaging, final interim storage, transport, and disposal at a final repository. The CWWFA shows waste flows through actual site-specific and facility-specific conditions. The system requirements for CWWFA are documented in the Technical Requirements Document (TRD). The TRD is intended to be a living document that will be modified over the course of the execution of CWWFA development. Thus, it is anticipated that CWWFA will continue to evolve as new requirements are identified (i.e., transportation, small sites, new streams, etc.). This report provides a documented basis for system verification of CWWFA requirements. System verification is accomplished through formal testing and evaluation to ensure that all performance requirements as specified in the TRD have been satisfied. A Requirement Verification Matrix (RVM) was used to map the technical requirements to the test procedures. The RVM is attached as Appendix A. Since February of 1997, substantial progress has been made toward development of the CWWFA to meet the system requirements. This system verification activity provides a baseline on system compliance to requirements and also an opportunity to reevaluate what requirements need to be satisfied in FY-98

Aircraft noise, health, and residential sorting: evidence from two quasi-experiments.

Science.gov (United States)

Boes, Stefan; Nüesch, Stephan; Stillman, Steven

2013-09-01

We explore two unexpected changes in flight regulations to estimate the causal effect of aircraft noise on health. Detailed measures of noise are linked with longitudinal data on individual health outcomes based on the exact address information. Controlling for individual heterogeneity and spatial sorting into different neighborhoods, we find that aircraft noise significantly increases sleeping problems and headaches. Models that do not control for such heterogeneity and sorting substantially underestimate the negative health effects, which suggests that individuals self-select into residence based on their unobserved sensitivity to noise. Our study demonstrates that the combination of quasi-experimental variation and panel data is very powerful for identifying causal effects in epidemiological field studies. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Using Common Graphics Paradigms Implemented in a Java Applet to Represent Complex Scheduling Requirements

Science.gov (United States)

Jaap, John; Meyer, Patrick; Davis, Elizabeth

1997-01-01

The experiments planned for the International Space Station promise to be complex, lengthy and diverse. The scarcity of the space station resources will cause significant competition for resources between experiments. The scheduling job facing the Space Station mission planning software requires a concise and comprehensive description of the experiments' requirements (to ensure a valid schedule) and a good description of the experiments' flexibility (to effectively utilize available resources). In addition, the continuous operation of the station, the wide geographic dispersion of station users, and the budgetary pressure to reduce operations manpower make a low-cost solution mandatory. A graphical representation of the scheduling requirements for station payloads implemented via an Internet-based application promises to be an elegant solution that addresses all of these issues. The graphical representation of experiment requirements permits a station user to describe his experiment by defining "activities" and "sequences of activities". Activities define the resource requirements (with alternatives) and other quantitative constraints of tasks to be performed. Activities definitions use an "outline" graphics paradigm. Sequences define the time relationships between activities. Sequences may also define time relationships with activities of other payloads or space station systems. Sequences of activities are described by a "network" graphics paradigm. The bulk of this paper will describe the graphical approach to representing requirements and provide examples that show the ease and clarity with which complex requirements can be represented. A Java applet, to run in a web browser, is being developed to support the graphical representation of payload scheduling requirements. Implementing the entry and editing of requirements via the web solves the problems introduced by the geographic dispersion of users. Reducing manpower is accomplished by developing a concise