WorldWideScience

Sample records for unique structural information

  1. Consciousness: a unique way of processing information.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marchetti, Giorgio

    2018-02-08

    In this article, I argue that consciousness is a unique way of processing information, in that: it produces information, rather than purely transmitting it; the information it produces is meaningful for us; the meaning it has is always individuated. This uniqueness allows us to process information on the basis of our personal needs and ever-changing interactions with the environment, and consequently to act autonomously. Three main basic cognitive processes contribute to realize this unique way of information processing: the self, attention and working memory. The self, which is primarily expressed via the central and peripheral nervous systems, maps our body, the environment, and our relations with the environment. It is the primary means by which the complexity inherent to our composite structure is reduced into the "single voice" of a unique individual. It provides a reference system that (albeit evolving) is sufficiently stable to define the variations that will be used as the raw material for the construction of conscious information. Attention allows for the selection of those variations in the state of the self that are most relevant in the given situation. Attention originates and is deployed from a single locus inside our body, which represents the center of the self, around which all our conscious experiences are organized. Whatever is focused by attention appears in our consciousness as possessing a spatial quality defined by this center and the direction toward which attention is focused. In addition, attention determines two other features of conscious experience: periodicity and phenomenal quality. Self and attention are necessary but not sufficient for conscious information to be produced. Complex forms of conscious experiences, such as the various modes of givenness of conscious experience and the stream of consciousness, need a working memory mechanism to assemble the basic pieces of information selected by attention.

  2. Affective and cognitive meta-bases of attitudes: Unique effects on information interest and persuasion.

    Science.gov (United States)

    See, Ya Hui Michelle; Petty, Richard E; Fabrigar, Leandre R

    2008-06-01

    The authors investigated the predictive utility of people's subjective assessments of whether their evaluations are affect- or cognition driven (i.e., meta-cognitive bases) as separate from whether people's attitudes are actually affect- or cognition based (i.e., structural bases). Study 1 demonstrated that meta-bases uniquely predict interest in affective versus cognitive information above and beyond structural bases and other related variables (i.e., need for cognition and need for affect). In Study 2, meta-bases were shown to account for unique variance in attitude change as a function of appeal type. Finally, Study 3 showed that as people became more deliberative in their judgments, meta-bases increased in predictive utility, and structural bases decreased in predictive utility. These findings support the existence of meta-bases of attitudes and demonstrate that meta-bases are distinguishable from structural bases in their predictive utility. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2008 APA, all rights reserved).

  3. CHID: a unique health information and education database.

    OpenAIRE

    Lunin, L F; Stein, R S

    1987-01-01

    The public's growing interest in health information and the health professions' increasing need to locate health education materials can be answered in part by the new Combined Health Information Database (CHID). This unique database focuses on materials and programs in professional and patient education, general health education, and community risk reduction. Accessible through BRS, CHID suggests sources for procuring brochures, pamphlets, articles, and films on community services, programs ...

  4. Duality based direct resolution of unique profiles using zero concentration region information.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tavakkoli, Elnaz; Rajkó, Róbert; Abdollahi, Hamid

    2018-07-01

    Self Modeling Curve Resolution (SMCR) is a class of techniques concerned with estimating pure profiles underlying a set of measurements on chemical systems. In general, the estimated profiles are ambiguous (non-unique) except if some special conditions fulfilled. Implementing the adequate information can reduce the so-called rotational ambiguity effectively, and in the most desirable cases lead to the unique solution. Therefore, studies on circumstances resulting in unique solution are of particular importance. The conditions of unique solution can particularly be studied based on duality principle. In bilinear chemical (e.g., spectroscopic) data matrix, there is a natural duality between its row and column vector spaces using minimal constraints (non-negativity of concentrations and absorbances). In this article, the conditions of the unique solution according to duality concept and using zero concentration region information is intended to show. A simulated dataset of three components and an experimental system with synthetic mixtures containing three amino acids tyrosine, phenylalanine and tryptophan are analyzed. It is shown that in the presence of sufficient information, the reliable unique solution is obtained that is valuable in analytical qualification and for quantitative verification analysis. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  5. Temporal information partitioning: Characterizing synergy, uniqueness, and redundancy in interacting environmental variables

    Science.gov (United States)

    Goodwell, Allison E.; Kumar, Praveen

    2017-07-01

    Information theoretic measures can be used to identify nonlinear interactions between source and target variables through reductions in uncertainty. In information partitioning, multivariate mutual information is decomposed into synergistic, unique, and redundant components. Synergy is information shared only when sources influence a target together, uniqueness is information only provided by one source, and redundancy is overlapping shared information from multiple sources. While this partitioning has been applied to provide insights into complex dependencies, several proposed partitioning methods overestimate redundant information and omit a component of unique information because they do not account for source dependencies. Additionally, information partitioning has only been applied to time-series data in a limited context, using basic pdf estimation techniques or a Gaussian assumption. We develop a Rescaled Redundancy measure (Rs) to solve the source dependency issue, and present Gaussian, autoregressive, and chaotic test cases to demonstrate its advantages over existing techniques in the presence of noise, various source correlations, and different types of interactions. This study constitutes the first rigorous application of information partitioning to environmental time-series data, and addresses how noise, pdf estimation technique, or source dependencies can influence detected measures. We illustrate how our techniques can unravel the complex nature of forcing and feedback within an ecohydrologic system with an application to 1 min environmental signals of air temperature, relative humidity, and windspeed. The methods presented here are applicable to the study of a broad range of complex systems composed of interacting variables.

  6. Structure determination of human Lck unique and SH3 domains by nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Willbold Dieter

    2003-05-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Protein tyrosine kinases are involved in signal transduction pathways that regulate cell growth, differentiation, activation and transformation. Human lymphocyte specific kinase (Lck is a 56 kDa protein involved in T-cell- and IL2-receptor signaling. Three-dimensional structures are known for SH3, SH2 and kinase domains of Lck as well as for other tyrosine kinases. No structure is known for the unique domain of any Src-type tyrosine kinase. Results Lck(1–120 comprising unique and SH3 domains was structurally investigated by nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. We found the unique domain, in contrast to the SH3 part, to have basically no defined structural elements. The solution structure of the SH3 part could be determined with very high precision. It does not show significant differences to Lck SH3 in the absence of the unique domain. Minor differences were observed to the X-ray structure of Lck SH3. Conclusion The unique domain of Lck does not contain any defined structure elements in the absence of ligands and membranes. Presence of the unique domain is not relevant to the three-dimensional structure of the Lck SH3 domain.

  7. Unique spin-polarized transmission effects in a QD ring structure

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hedin, Eric; Joe, Yong

    2010-10-01

    Spintronics is an emerging field in which the spin of the electron is used for switching purposes and to communicate information. In order to obtain spin-polarized electron transmission, the Zeeman effect is employed to produce spin-split energy states in quantum dots which are embedded in the arms of a mesoscopic Aharonov-Bohm (AB) ring heterostructure. The Zeeman splitting of the QD energy levels can be induced by a parallel magnetic field, or by a perpendicular field which also produces AB-effects. The combination of these effects on the transmission resonances of the structure is studied analytically and several parameter regimes are identified which produce a high degree of spin-polarized output. Contour and line plots of the weighted spin polarization as a function of electron energy and magnetic field are presented to visualize the degree of spin-polarization. Taking advantage of these unique parameter regimes shows the potential promise of such devices for producing spin-polarized currents.

  8. A large scale analysis of information-theoretic network complexity measures using chemical structures.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Matthias Dehmer

    Full Text Available This paper aims to investigate information-theoretic network complexity measures which have already been intensely used in mathematical- and medicinal chemistry including drug design. Numerous such measures have been developed so far but many of them lack a meaningful interpretation, e.g., we want to examine which kind of structural information they detect. Therefore, our main contribution is to shed light on the relatedness between some selected information measures for graphs by performing a large scale analysis using chemical networks. Starting from several sets containing real and synthetic chemical structures represented by graphs, we study the relatedness between a classical (partition-based complexity measure called the topological information content of a graph and some others inferred by a different paradigm leading to partition-independent measures. Moreover, we evaluate the uniqueness of network complexity measures numerically. Generally, a high uniqueness is an important and desirable property when designing novel topological descriptors having the potential to be applied to large chemical databases.

  9. Unique strategies for technical information management at Johnson Space Center

    Science.gov (United States)

    Krishen, Vijay

    1994-01-01

    In addition to the current NASA manned programs, the maturation of Space Station and the introduction of the Space Exploration programs are anticipated to add substantially to the number and variety of data and documentation at NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC). This growth in the next decade has been estimated at five to ten fold compared to the current numbers. There will be an increased requirement for the tracking and currency of space program data and documents with National pressures to realize economic benefits from the research and technological developments of space programs. From a global perspective the demand for NASA's technical data and documentation is anticipated to increase at local, national, and international levels. The primary users will be government, industry, and academia. In our present national strategy, NASA's research and technology will assume a great role in the revitalization of the economy and gaining international competitiveness. Thus, greater demand will be placed on NASA's data and documentation resources. In this paper the strategies and procedures developed by DDMS, Inc., to accommodate the present and future information utilization needs are presented. The DDMS, Inc., strategies and procedures rely on understanding user requirements, library management issues, and technological applications for acquiring, searching, storing, and retrieving specific information accurately and quickly. The proposed approach responds to changing customer requirements and product deliveries. The unique features of the proposed strategy include: (1) To establish customer driven data and documentation management through an innovative and unique methods to identify needs and requirements. (2) To implement a structured process which responds to user needs, aimed at minimizing costs and maximizing services, resulting in increased productivity. (3) To provide a process of standardization of services and procedures. This standardization is the central

  10. Exploiting Unique Structural and Functional Properties of Malarial Glycolytic Enzymes for Antimalarial Drug Development

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Asrar Alam

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Metabolic enzymes have been known to carry out a variety of functions besides their normal housekeeping roles known as “moonlighting functions.” These functionalities arise from structural changes induced by posttranslational modifications and/or binding of interacting proteins. Glycolysis is the sole source of energy generation for malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum, hence a potential pathway for therapeutic intervention. Crystal structures of several P. falciparum glycolytic enzymes have been solved, revealing that they exhibit unique structural differences from the respective host enzymes, which could be exploited for their selective targeting. In addition, these enzymes carry out many parasite-specific functions, which could be of potential interest to control parasite development and transmission. This review focuses on the moonlighting functions of P. falciparum glycolytic enzymes and unique structural differences and functional features of the parasite enzymes, which could be exploited for therapeutic and transmission blocking interventions against malaria.

  11. Uniqueness of the joint measurement and the structure of the set of compatible quantum measurements

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guerini, Leonardo; Terra Cunha, Marcelo

    2018-04-01

    We address the problem of characterising the compatible tuples of measurements that admit a unique joint measurement. We derive a uniqueness criterion based on the method of perturbations and apply it to show that extremal points of the set of compatible tuples admit a unique joint measurement, while all tuples that admit a unique joint measurement lie in the boundary of such a set. We also provide counter-examples showing that none of these properties are both necessary and sufficient, thus completely describing the relation between the joint measurement uniqueness and the structure of the compatible set. As a by-product of our investigations, we completely characterise the extremal and boundary points of the set of general tuples of measurements and of the subset of compatible tuples.

  12. Deciphering the structure of isomeric oligosaccharides in a complex mixture by tandem mass spectrometry: Photon activation with vacuum ultra-violet brings unique information and enables definitive structure assignment

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ropartz, David, E-mail: David.Ropartz@nantes.inra.fr [INRA, UR1268 Biopolymers Interactions Assemblies, F-44316 Nantes (France); Lemoine, Jérôme [Institut des Sciences Analytiques, UMR 5280, Université Lyon 1-CNRS, Université de Lyon, F-69622 Villeurbanne cedex (France); Giuliani, Alexandre [Synchrotron SOLEIL, L’Orme des Merisiers, F-91190 Gif-sur-Yvette (France); UAR 1008 CEPIA, INRA, F-44316 Nantes (France); Bittebière, Yann [INRA, UR1268 Biopolymers Interactions Assemblies, F-44316 Nantes (France); Enjalbert, Quentin [Institut des Sciences Analytiques, UMR 5280, Université Lyon 1-CNRS, Université de Lyon, F-69622 Villeurbanne cedex (France); Institut Lumière Matière, UMR5306, Université Lyon 1-CNRS, Université de Lyon, F-69622 Villeurbanne cedex (France); Antoine, Rodolphe; Dugourd, Philippe [Institut Lumière Matière, UMR5306, Université Lyon 1-CNRS, Université de Lyon, F-69622 Villeurbanne cedex (France); Ralet, Marie-Christine; Rogniaux, Hélène [INRA, UR1268 Biopolymers Interactions Assemblies, F-44316 Nantes (France)

    2014-01-07

    Graphical abstract: -- Highlights: •A complex mixture of methylated oligogalacturonans was fractionated by IP-RP-UHPLC. •Synchrotron-radiation in VUV range was used as an activation process for tandem MS. •VUV activation brought rich structural information compared to LE-CAD. •Resolution of more than 35 structures, including isomers, was successfully completed. -- Abstract: Carbohydrates have a wide variety of structures whose complexity and heterogeneity challenge the field of analytical chemistry. Tandem mass spectrometry, with its remarkable sensitivity and high information content, provides key advantages to addressing the structural elucidation of polysaccharides. Yet, classical fragmentation by collision-activated dissociation (CAD) in many cases fails to reach a comprehensive structural determination, especially when isomers have to be differentiated. In this work, for the first time, vacuum ultra-violet (VUV) synchrotron radiation is used as the activation process in tandem mass spectrometry of large oligosaccharides. Compared to low energy CAD (LE-CAD), photon activated dissociation brought more straightforward and valuable structural information. The outstanding feature was that complete series of informative ions were produced, with only minor neutral losses. Moreover, systematic fragmentation rules could be drawn thus facilitating the definitive assignments of fragment identities. As a result, most of the structures present in a complex mixture of oligogalacturonans could be comprehensively resolved, including many isomers differing in the position of methyl groups along the galacturonic acid backbone.

  13. Sleep Benefits Memory for Semantic Category Structure While Preserving Exemplar-Specific Information.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schapiro, Anna C; McDevitt, Elizabeth A; Chen, Lang; Norman, Kenneth A; Mednick, Sara C; Rogers, Timothy T

    2017-11-01

    Semantic memory encompasses knowledge about both the properties that typify concepts (e.g. robins, like all birds, have wings) as well as the properties that individuate conceptually related items (e.g. robins, in particular, have red breasts). We investigate the impact of sleep on new semantic learning using a property inference task in which both kinds of information are initially acquired equally well. Participants learned about three categories of novel objects possessing some properties that were shared among category exemplars and others that were unique to an exemplar, with exposure frequency varying across categories. In Experiment 1, memory for shared properties improved and memory for unique properties was preserved across a night of sleep, while memory for both feature types declined over a day awake. In Experiment 2, memory for shared properties improved across a nap, but only for the lower-frequency category, suggesting a prioritization of weakly learned information early in a sleep period. The increase was significantly correlated with amount of REM, but was also observed in participants who did not enter REM, suggesting involvement of both REM and NREM sleep. The results provide the first evidence that sleep improves memory for the shared structure of object categories, while simultaneously preserving object-unique information.

  14. Meeting Nontraditional Medical Information Needs for the Unique Populations and Geographically Remote Locations of Alaska.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lema, Dana V

    2016-01-01

    The types of information required by hospital and clinical staff can be greatly influenced by the geography and culture of the area in which they operate. In some situations, information must be acquired from sources that fall outside the traditional provisions of a medical or reference library. This article provides examples of the unique information needs of clinical staff serving a primarily Native Alaskan and Native American clientele in Alaska. It also presents sources and personnel utilized to meet those information needs outside of traditional reference sources.

  15. Unique Reversible Crystal-to-Crystal Phase Transition – Structural and Functional Properties of Fused Ladder Thienoarenes

    KAUST Repository

    Abe, Yuichiro

    2017-08-15

    Donor-acceptor type molecules based on fused ladder thienoarenes, indacenodithiophene (IDT) and dithienocyclopenta-thienothiophene (DTCTT), coupled with benzothiadiazole, are prepared and their solid-state structures are investigated. They display a rich variety of solid phases ranging from amorphous glass states to crystalline states, upon changes in the central aromatic core and side group structures. Most notably, the DTCTT-based derivatives showed reversible crystal-to-crystal phase transitions in heating and cooling cycles. Unlike what has been seen in π−conjugated molecules variable temperature XRD revealed that structural change occurs continuously during the transition. A columnar self-assembled structure with slip-stacked π−π interaction is proposed to be involved in the solid-state. This research provides the evidence of unique structural behavior of the DTCTT-based molecules through the detailed structural analysis. This unique structural transition paves the way for these materials to have self-healing of crystal defects, leading to improved optoelectronic properties.

  16. Unique Reversible Crystal-to-Crystal Phase Transition – Structural and Functional Properties of Fused Ladder Thienoarenes

    KAUST Repository

    Abe, Yuichiro; Savikhin, Victoria; Yin, Jun; Grimsdale, Andrew C.; Soci, Cesare; Toney, Michael F.; Lam, Yeng Ming

    2017-01-01

    Donor-acceptor type molecules based on fused ladder thienoarenes, indacenodithiophene (IDT) and dithienocyclopenta-thienothiophene (DTCTT), coupled with benzothiadiazole, are prepared and their solid-state structures are investigated. They display a rich variety of solid phases ranging from amorphous glass states to crystalline states, upon changes in the central aromatic core and side group structures. Most notably, the DTCTT-based derivatives showed reversible crystal-to-crystal phase transitions in heating and cooling cycles. Unlike what has been seen in π−conjugated molecules variable temperature XRD revealed that structural change occurs continuously during the transition. A columnar self-assembled structure with slip-stacked π−π interaction is proposed to be involved in the solid-state. This research provides the evidence of unique structural behavior of the DTCTT-based molecules through the detailed structural analysis. This unique structural transition paves the way for these materials to have self-healing of crystal defects, leading to improved optoelectronic properties.

  17. Crystal structure of Aquifex aeolicus gene product Aq1627: a putative phosphoglucosamine mutase reveals a unique C-terminal end-to-end disulfide linkage.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sridharan, Upasana; Kuramitsu, Seiki; Yokoyama, Shigeyuki; Kumarevel, Thirumananseri; Ponnuraj, Karthe

    2017-06-27

    The Aq1627 gene from Aquifex aeolicus, a hyperthermophilic bacterium has been cloned and overexpressed in Escherichia coli. The protein was purified to homogeneity and its X-ray crystal structure was determined to 1.3 Å resolution using multiple wavelength anomalous dispersion phasing. The structural and sequence analysis of Aq1627 is suggestive of a putative phosphoglucosamine mutase. The structural features of Aq1627 further indicate that it could belong to a new subclass of the phosphoglucosamine mutase family. Aq1627 structure contains a unique C-terminal end-to-end disulfide bond, which links two monomers and this structural information can be used in protein engineering to make proteins more stable in different applications.

  18. [Uniqueness seeking behavior as a self-verification: an alternative approach to the study of uniqueness].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yamaoka, S

    1995-06-01

    Uniqueness theory explains that extremely high perceived similarity between self and others evokes negative emotional reactions and causes uniqueness seeking behavior. However, the theory conceptualizes similarity so ambiguously that it appears to suffer from low predictive validity. The purpose of the current article is to propose an alternative explanation of uniqueness seeking behavior. It posits that perceived uniqueness deprivation is a threat to self-concepts, and therefore causes self-verification behavior. Two levels of self verification are conceived: one based on personal categorization and the other on social categorization. The present approach regards uniqueness seeking behavior as the personal-level self verification. To test these propositions, a 2 (very high or moderate similarity information) x 2 (with or without outgroup information) x 2 (high or low need for uniqueness) between-subject factorial-design experiment was conducted with 95 university students. Results supported the self-verification approach, and were discussed in terms of effects of uniqueness deprivation, levels of self-categorization, and individual differences in need for uniqueness.

  19. Identifying Non-Volatile Data Storage Areas: Unique Notebook Identification Information as Digital Evidence

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nikica Budimir

    2007-03-01

    Full Text Available The research reported in this paper introduces new techniques to aid in the identification of recovered notebook computers so they may be returned to the rightful owner. We identify non-volatile data storage areas as a means of facilitating the safe storing of computer identification information. A forensic proof of concept tool has been designed to test the feasibility of several storage locations identified within this work to hold the data needed to uniquely identify a computer. The tool was used to perform the creation and extraction of created information in order to allow the analysis of the non-volatile storage locations as valid storage areas capable of holding and preserving the data created within them.  While the format of the information used to identify the machine itself is important, this research only discusses the insertion, storage and ability to retain such information.

  20. The Congenital Heart Surgeons Society Datacenter: unique attributes as a research organization.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Caldarone, Christopher A; Williams, William G

    2010-01-01

    Over the last 25 years, the Congenital Heart Surgeons Society (CHSS) has evolved from an informal club to a mature organization. A central feature of the CHSS has been dedication to evaluating outcomes of congenital heart surgery across a wide array of clinical diagnoses. These research activities have been orchestrated through the CHSS Datacenter, which has developed a unique organizational structure that has strengths and weaknesses in comparison to other research organizational structures (e.g., prospective randomized trials, registries, etc). This review will highlight the unique attributes of the CHSS Datacenter with emphasis on the Datacenter's strengths and weaknesses in comparison to other organizational structures. Copyright (c) 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  1. O'nyong nyong virus molecular determinants of unique vector specificity reside in non-structural protein 3.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kali D Saxton-Shaw

    Full Text Available O'nyong nyong virus (ONNV and Chikungunya virus (CHIKV are two closely related alphaviruses with very different infection patterns in the mosquito, Anopheles gambiae. ONNV is the only alphavirus transmitted by anopheline mosquitoes, but specific molecular determinants of infection of this unique vector specificity remain unidentified. Fifteen distinct chimeric viruses were constructed to evaluate both structural and non-structural regions of the genome and infection patterns were determined through artificial infectious feeds in An. gambiae with each of these chimeras. Only one region, non-structural protein 3 (nsP3, was sufficient to up-regulate infection to rates similar to those seen with parental ONNV. When ONNV non-structural protein 3 (nsP3 replaced nsP3 from CHIKV virus in one of the chimeric viruses, infection rates in An. gambiae went from 0% to 63.5%. No other single gene or viral region addition was able to restore infection rates. Thus, we have shown that a non-structural genome element involved in viral replication is a major element involved in ONNV's unique vector specificity.

  2. Genetic structure of a unique admixed population: implications for medical research.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Patterson, Nick; Petersen, Desiree C; van der Ross, Richard E; Sudoyo, Herawati; Glashoff, Richard H; Marzuki, Sangkot; Reich, David; Hayes, Vanessa M

    2010-02-01

    STATEMENT: In naming population groups, we think a chief aim is to use terms that the group members use themselves, or find familiar and comfortable. The terms used in this manuscript to describe populations are as historically correct as possible and are chosen so as not to offend any population group. Two of the authors (DCP and REvdR) belong to the Coloured population, with one of the authors (REvdR) having contributed extensively to current literature on the history of the Coloured people of South Africa and served as Vice-President of the South African Institute of Race Relations. According to the 2001 South African census (http://www.statssa.gov.za/census01/HTML/CInBrief/CIB2001.pdf), "Statistics South Africa continues to classify people by population group, in order to monitor progress in moving away from the apartheid-based discrimination of the past. However, membership of a population group is now based on self-perception and self-classification, not on a legal definition. Five options were provided on the questionnaire, Black African, Coloured, Indian or Asian, White and Other. Responses in the category 'Other' were very few and were therefore imputed". We have elected to use the term Bushmen rather than San to refer to the hunter-gatherer people of Southern Africa. Although they have no collective name for themselves, this decision was based on the term Bushmen (or Bossiesman) being the more familiar to the communities themselves, while the term San is the more accepted academic classification. Understanding human genetic structure has fundamental implications for understanding the evolution and impact of human diseases. In this study, we describe the complex genetic substructure of a unique and recently admixed population arising approximately 350 years ago as a direct result of European settlement in South Africa. Analysis was performed using over 900 000 genome-wide single nucleotide polymorphisms in 20 unrelated ancestry-informative marker selected

  3. Laboratory information management system for membrane protein structure initiative--from gene to crystal.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Troshin, Petr V; Morris, Chris; Prince, Stephen M; Papiz, Miroslav Z

    2008-12-01

    Membrane Protein Structure Initiative (MPSI) exploits laboratory competencies to work collaboratively and distribute work among the different sites. This is possible as protein structure determination requires a series of steps, starting with target selection, through cloning, expression, purification, crystallization and finally structure determination. Distributed sites create a unique set of challenges for integrating and passing on information on the progress of targets. This role is played by the Protein Information Management System (PIMS), which is a laboratory information management system (LIMS), serving as a hub for MPSI, allowing collaborative structural proteomics to be carried out in a distributed fashion. It holds key information on the progress of cloning, expression, purification and crystallization of proteins. PIMS is employed to track the status of protein targets and to manage constructs, primers, experiments, protocols, sample locations and their detailed histories: thus playing a key role in MPSI data exchange. It also serves as the centre of a federation of interoperable information resources such as local laboratory information systems and international archival resources, like PDB or NCBI. During the challenging task of PIMS integration, within the MPSI, we discovered a number of prerequisites for successful PIMS integration. In this article we share our experiences and provide invaluable insights into the process of LIMS adaptation. This information should be of interest to partners who are thinking about using LIMS as a data centre for their collaborative efforts.

  4. The Protein Model Portal--a comprehensive resource for protein structure and model information.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Haas, Juergen; Roth, Steven; Arnold, Konstantin; Kiefer, Florian; Schmidt, Tobias; Bordoli, Lorenza; Schwede, Torsten

    2013-01-01

    The Protein Model Portal (PMP) has been developed to foster effective use of 3D molecular models in biomedical research by providing convenient and comprehensive access to structural information for proteins. Both experimental structures and theoretical models for a given protein can be searched simultaneously and analyzed for structural variability. By providing a comprehensive view on structural information, PMP offers the opportunity to apply consistent assessment and validation criteria to the complete set of structural models available for proteins. PMP is an open project so that new methods developed by the community can contribute to PMP, for example, new modeling servers for creating homology models and model quality estimation servers for model validation. The accuracy of participating modeling servers is continuously evaluated by the Continuous Automated Model EvaluatiOn (CAMEO) project. The PMP offers a unique interface to visualize structural coverage of a protein combining both theoretical models and experimental structures, allowing straightforward assessment of the model quality and hence their utility. The portal is updated regularly and actively developed to include latest methods in the field of computational structural biology. Database URL: http://www.proteinmodelportal.org.

  5. The Protein Model Portal—a comprehensive resource for protein structure and model information

    Science.gov (United States)

    Haas, Juergen; Roth, Steven; Arnold, Konstantin; Kiefer, Florian; Schmidt, Tobias; Bordoli, Lorenza; Schwede, Torsten

    2013-01-01

    The Protein Model Portal (PMP) has been developed to foster effective use of 3D molecular models in biomedical research by providing convenient and comprehensive access to structural information for proteins. Both experimental structures and theoretical models for a given protein can be searched simultaneously and analyzed for structural variability. By providing a comprehensive view on structural information, PMP offers the opportunity to apply consistent assessment and validation criteria to the complete set of structural models available for proteins. PMP is an open project so that new methods developed by the community can contribute to PMP, for example, new modeling servers for creating homology models and model quality estimation servers for model validation. The accuracy of participating modeling servers is continuously evaluated by the Continuous Automated Model EvaluatiOn (CAMEO) project. The PMP offers a unique interface to visualize structural coverage of a protein combining both theoretical models and experimental structures, allowing straightforward assessment of the model quality and hence their utility. The portal is updated regularly and actively developed to include latest methods in the field of computational structural biology. Database URL: http://www.proteinmodelportal.org PMID:23624946

  6. Unique structural modulation of a non-native substrate by cochaperone DnaJ.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tiwari, Satyam; Kumar, Vignesh; Jayaraj, Gopal Gunanathan; Maiti, Souvik; Mapa, Koyeli

    2013-02-12

    The role of bacterial DnaJ protein as a cochaperone of DnaK is strongly appreciated. Although DnaJ unaccompanied by DnaK can bind unfolded as well as native substrate proteins, its role as an individual chaperone remains elusive. In this study, we demonstrate that DnaJ binds a model non-native substrate with a low nanomolar dissociation constant and, more importantly, modulates the structure of its non-native state. The structural modulation achieved by DnaJ is different compared to that achieved by the DnaK-DnaJ complex. The nature of structural modulation exerted by DnaJ is suggestive of a unique unfolding activity on the non-native substrate by the chaperone. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the zinc binding motif along with the C-terminal substrate binding domain of DnaJ is necessary and sufficient for binding and the subsequent binding-induced structural alterations of the non-native substrate. We hypothesize that this hitherto unknown structural alteration of non-native states by DnaJ might be important for its chaperoning activity by removing kinetic traps of the folding intermediates.

  7. Nuclear resonance scattering of synchrotron radiation as a unique electronic, structural and thermodynamic probe

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Alp, E. Ercan; Sturhahn, Wolfgang; Toellner, Thomas S.; Zhao, Jiyong; Leu, Bogdan M.

    2012-01-01

    (SMS). However, to place these two techniques into some perspective with respect to other methods that yield related information, they display their version of a frequently used map of momentum and energy transfer diagram in figure 17.1. Here, various probes like electrons, neutrons, or light, i.e., Brillouin or Raman, and relatively newer forms of X-ray scattering are placed according to their range of energy and momentum transfer taking place during the measurements. Accordingly, NRIXS is a method that needs to be considered as a complementary probe to inelastic neutron and X-ray scattering, while SMS occupies a unique space due to its sensitivity to magnetism, structural deformations, valence, and spin states.

  8. Uranium(VI) coordination polymers with pyromellitate ligand: Unique 1D channel structures and diverse fluorescence

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Zhang, Yingjie, E-mail: yzx@ansto.gov.au [Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organization, Locked Bag 2001, Kirrawee DC, NSW 2232 (Australia); Bhadbhade, Mohan [Mark Wainwright Analytical Centre, University of New South Wales, Kensington, NSW 2052 (Australia); Karatchevtseva, Inna [Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organization, Locked Bag 2001, Kirrawee DC, NSW 2232 (Australia); Price, Jason R. [Australian Synchrotron, 800 Blackburn Road, Clayton, VIC 3168 (Australia); Liu, Hao [Centre for Clean Energy Technology, School of Chemistry and Forensic Science, University of Technology Sydney, PO Box 123, Broadway, Sydney, NSW 2007 (Australia); Zhang, Zhaoming; Kong, Linggen [Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organization, Locked Bag 2001, Kirrawee DC, NSW 2232 (Australia); Čejka, Jiří [Department of Mineralogy, National Museum, Václavské náměstí, 68, Prague 1, 115 79-CZ (Czech Republic); Lu, Kim; Lumpkin, Gregory R. [Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organization, Locked Bag 2001, Kirrawee DC, NSW 2232 (Australia)

    2015-03-15

    Three new coordination polymers of uranium(VI) with pyromellitic acid (H{sub 4}btca) have been synthesized and structurally characterized. (ED)[(UO{sub 2})(btca)]·(DMSO)·3H{sub 2}O (1) (ED=ethylenediammonium; DMSO=dimethylsulfoxide) has a lamellar structure with intercalation of ED and DMSO. (NH{sub 4}){sub 2}[(UO{sub 2}){sub 6}O{sub 2}(OH){sub 6}(btca)]·~6H{sub 2}O (2) has a 3D framework built from 7-fold coordinated uranyl trinuclear units and btca ligands with 1D diamond-shaped channels (~8.5 Å×~8.6 Å). [(UO{sub 2}){sub 2}(H{sub 2}O)(btca)]·4H{sub 2}O (3) has a 3D network constructed by two types of 7-fold coordinated uranium polyhedron. The unique μ{sub 5}-coordination mode of btca in 3 enables the formation of 1D olive-shaped large channels (~4.5 Å×~19 Å). Vibrational modes, thermal stabilities and fluorescence properties have been investigated. - Graphical abstract: Table of content: three new uranium(VI) coordination polymers with pyromellitic acid (H{sub 4}btca) have been synthesized via room temperature and hydrothermal synthesis methods, and structurally characterized. Two to three dimensional (3D) frameworks are revealed. All 3D frameworks have unique 1D large channels. Their vibrational modes, thermal stabilities and photoluminescence properties have been investigated. - Highlights: • Three new coordination polymers of U(VI) with pyromellitic acid (H{sub 4}btca). • Structures from a 2D layer to 3D frameworks with unique 1D channels. • Unusual µ{sub 5}-(η{sub 1}:η{sub 2}:η{sub 1}:η{sub 2:}η{sub 1}) coordination mode of btca ligand. • Vibrational modes, thermal stabilities and luminescent properties reported.

  9. Network Centric Information Structure - Crisis Information Management

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Aarholt, Eldar; Berg, Olav

    2004-01-01

    This paper presents a generic Network Centric Information Structure (NCIS) that can be used by civilian, military and public sectors, and that supports information handling applied to crises management and emergency response...

  10. Information and crystal structure estimation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wilkins, S.W.; Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization, Clayton; Varghese, J.N.; Steenstrup, S.

    1984-01-01

    The conceptual foundations of a general information-theoretic based approach to X-ray structure estimation are reexamined with a view to clarifying some of the subtleties inherent in the approach and to enhancing the scope of the method. More particularly, general reasons for choosing the minimum of the Shannon-Kullback measure for information as the criterion for inference are discussed and it is shown that the minimum information (or maximum entropy) principle enters the present treatment of the structure estimation problem in at least to quite separate ways, and that three formally similar but conceptually quite different expressions for relative information appear at different points in the theory. One of these is the general Shannon-Kullback expression, while the second is a derived form pertaining only under the restrictive assumptions of the present stochastic model for allowed structures, and the third is a measure of the additional information involved in accepting a fluctuation relative to an arbitrary mean structure. (orig.)

  11. Co-residence patterns in hunter-gatherer societies show unique human social structure.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hill, Kim R; Walker, Robert S; Bozicević, Miran; Eder, James; Headland, Thomas; Hewlett, Barry; Hurtado, A Magdalena; Marlowe, Frank; Wiessner, Polly; Wood, Brian

    2011-03-11

    Contemporary humans exhibit spectacular biological success derived from cumulative culture and cooperation. The origins of these traits may be related to our ancestral group structure. Because humans lived as foragers for 95% of our species' history, we analyzed co-residence patterns among 32 present-day foraging societies (total n = 5067 individuals, mean experienced band size = 28.2 adults). We found that hunter-gatherers display a unique social structure where (i) either sex may disperse or remain in their natal group, (ii) adult brothers and sisters often co-reside, and (iii) most individuals in residential groups are genetically unrelated. These patterns produce large interaction networks of unrelated adults and suggest that inclusive fitness cannot explain extensive cooperation in hunter-gatherer bands. However, large social networks may help to explain why humans evolved capacities for social learning that resulted in cumulative culture.

  12. Invalidating Policies using Structural Information

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kammuller, Florian; Probst, Christian W.

    2013-01-01

    by invalidating policies using structural information of the organisational model. Based on this structural information and a description of the organisation's policies, our approach invalidates the policies and identifies exemplary sequences of actions that lead to a violation of the policy in question. Based...... on these examples, the organisation can identify real attack vectors that might result in an insider attack. This information can be used to refine access control system or policies....

  13. Spider Silk Violin Strings with a Unique Packing Structure Generate a Soft and Profound Timbre

    Science.gov (United States)

    Osaki, Shigeyoshi

    2012-04-01

    We overcome the difficulties in pulling long draglines from spiders, twist bundles of dragline filaments, and succeed in preparing violin strings. The twisting is found to change the cross section shapes of filaments from circular to polygonal and to optimize the packing structure with no openings among filaments providing mechanically strong and elastic strings. The spider string signal peaks of overtones for the violin are relatively large at high frequencies, generating a soft and profound timbre. Such a preferable timbre is considered to be due to the unique polygonal packing structure which provides valuable knowledge for developing new types of materials.

  14. Using Quantum Confinement to Uniquely Identify Devices

    Science.gov (United States)

    Roberts, J.; Bagci, I. E.; Zawawi, M. A. M.; Sexton, J.; Hulbert, N.; Noori, Y. J.; Young, M. P.; Woodhead, C. S.; Missous, M.; Migliorato, M. A.; Roedig, U.; Young, R. J.

    2015-11-01

    Modern technology unintentionally provides resources that enable the trust of everyday interactions to be undermined. Some authentication schemes address this issue using devices that give a unique output in response to a challenge. These signatures are generated by hard-to-predict physical responses derived from structural characteristics, which lend themselves to two different architectures, known as unique objects (UNOs) and physically unclonable functions (PUFs). The classical design of UNOs and PUFs limits their size and, in some cases, their security. Here we show that quantum confinement lends itself to the provision of unique identities at the nanoscale, by using fluctuations in tunnelling measurements through quantum wells in resonant tunnelling diodes (RTDs). This provides an uncomplicated measurement of identity without conventional resource limitations whilst providing robust security. The confined energy levels are highly sensitive to the specific nanostructure within each RTD, resulting in a distinct tunnelling spectrum for every device, as they contain a unique and unpredictable structure that is presently impossible to clone. This new class of authentication device operates with minimal resources in simple electronic structures above room temperature.

  15. Invalidating Policies using Structural Information

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kammuller, Florian; Probst, Christian W.

    2014-01-01

    by invalidating policies using structural information of the organisational model. Based on this structural information and a description of the organisation’s policies, our approach invalidates the policies and identifies exemplary sequences of actions that lead to a violation of the policy in question. Based...... on these examples, the organisation can identify real attack vectors that might result in an insider attack. This information can be used to refine access control systems or policies. We provide case studies showing how mechanical verification tools, i.e. modelchecking with MCMAS and interactive theorem proving...

  16. Analysis of crack propagation in concrete structures with structural information entropy

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    2010-01-01

    The propagation of cracks in concrete structures causes energy dissipation and release, and also causes energy redistribution in the structures. Entropy can characterize the energy redistribution. To investigate the relation between the propagation of cracks and the entropy in concrete structures, cracked concrete structures are treated as dissipative structures. Structural information entropy is defined for concrete structures. A compact tension test is conducted. Meanwhile, numerical simulations are also carried out. Both the test and numerical simulation results show that the structural information entropy in the structures can characterize the propagation of cracks in concrete structures.

  17. User Needs and Strategies in Structured Information Retrieval

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    G. Ramirez Camps (Georgina)

    2005-01-01

    textabstractStructured information retrieval studies the combination of the content and the structure information of documents to perform different IR tasks. Different approaches make use of the structural information of documents to improve information retrieval effectiveness. However, most of

  18. Information-preserving structures: A general framework for quantum zero-error information

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Blume-Kohout, Robin; Ng, Hui Khoon; Poulin, David; Viola, Lorenza

    2010-01-01

    Quantum systems carry information. Quantum theory supports at least two distinct kinds of information (classical and quantum), and a variety of different ways to encode and preserve information in physical systems. A system's ability to carry information is constrained and defined by the noise in its dynamics. This paper introduces an operational framework, using information-preserving structures, to classify all the kinds of information that can be perfectly (i.e., with zero error) preserved by quantum dynamics. We prove that every perfectly preserved code has the same structure as a matrix algebra, and that preserved information can always be corrected. We also classify distinct operational criteria for preservation (e.g., 'noiseless','unitarily correctible', etc.) and introduce two natural criteria for measurement-stabilized and unconditionally preserved codes. Finally, for several of these operational criteria, we present efficient (polynomial in the state-space dimension) algorithms to find all of a channel's information-preserving structures.

  19. Computerized management information systems and organizational structures

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zannetos, Z. S.; Sertel, M. R.

    1970-01-01

    The computerized management of information systems and organizational structures is discussed. The subjects presented are: (1) critical factors favoring centralization and decentralization of organizations, (2) classification of organizations by relative structure, (3) attempts to measure change in organization structure, and (4) impact of information technology developments on organizational structure changes.

  20. Development of the structural materials information center

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Oland, C.B.; Naus, D.J.

    1990-01-01

    The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has initiated a Structural Aging Program at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory to identify potential structural safety issues related to continued service of nuclear power plants and to establish criteria for evaluating and resolving these issues. One of the tasks in this program focuses on the establishment of a Structural Materials Information Center where data and information on the time variation of concrete and other structural material properties under the influence of pertinent environmental stressors and aging factors are being collected and assembled into a database. This database will be used to assist in the prediction of potential long-term deterioration of critical structural components in nuclear power plants and to establish limits on hostile environmental exposure for these structures and materials. Two complementary database formats have been developed. The Structural Materials Handbook is an expandable, hard copy handbook that contains complete sets of data and information for selected portland cement concrete, metallic reinforcement, prestressing tendon, and structural steel materials. The Structural Materials Electronic Database is accessible by an IBM-compatible personal computer and provides an efficient means for searching the various database files to locate materials with similar properties. The database formats have been developed to accommodate data and information on the time-variation of concrete and other structural material properties. To date, the database includes information on concrete, reinforcement, prestressing, and structural steel materials

  1. Diabetes: Unique to Older Adults

    Science.gov (United States)

    ... Stroke Urinary Incontinence Related Documents PDF Choosing Wisely: Diabetes Tests and Treatments Download Related Video Join our e-newsletter! Aging & Health A to Z Diabetes Unique to Older Adults This section provides information ...

  2. INFORMATION STRUCTURE IN EFL TEACHING

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gültekin Boran

    2015-07-01

    Full Text Available When speaking or writing in a foreign language, being grammatically and semantically competent may not be enough to convey the necessary information to the interlocutors in dual conversations or to the readers who read our texts in various genres such as personal letters, formal letters, e-mails, etc. Namely, individuals who communicate in a foreign language may generate grammatically and semantically well-formed sentences or phrases but their sentences and phrases may still not be comprehensible enough because they fail in highlighting the new information (unfamiliar information and deemphasizing the given (old information. Therefore, teaching how to utilize intonation, sentence stress and pitch when speaking English and teaching how to utilize various syntactic constructions such as fronting, left-dislocation, clefting, pseudoclefting, passive structures and word order in order to highlight new information and deemphasise given information when both speaking English and writing a text in English are of great importance in foreign language teaching. In this article, the concept of information structure is reviewed, examples are given both in Turkish and English and suggestions are made for English as a Foreign Language (EFL classes.

  3. The unique N-terminal zinc finger of synaptotagmin-like protein 4 reveals FYVE structure.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Miyamoto, Kazuhide; Nakatani, Arisa; Saito, Kazuki

    2017-12-01

    Synaptotagmin-like protein 4 (Slp4), expressed in human platelets, is associated with dense granule release. Slp4 is comprised of the N-terminal zinc finger, Slp homology domain, and C2 domains. We synthesized a compact construct (the Slp4N peptide) corresponding to the Slp4 N-terminal zinc finger. Herein, we have determined the solution structure of the Slp4N peptide by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). Furthermore, experimental, chemical modification of Cys residues revealed that the Slp4N peptide binds two zinc atoms to mediate proper folding. NMR data showed that eight Cys residues coordinate zinc atoms in a cross-brace fashion. The Simple Modular Architecture Research Tool database predicted the structure of Slp4N as a RING finger. However, the actual structure of the Slp4N peptide adopts a unique C 4 C 4 -type FYVE fold and is distinct from a RING fold. To create an artificial RING finger (ARF) with specific ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme (E2)-binding capability, cross-brace structures with eight zinc-ligating residues are needed as the scaffold. The cross-brace structure of the Slp4N peptide could be utilized as the scaffold for the design of ARFs. © 2017 The Protein Society.

  4. Development of the Structural Materials Information Center

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Oland, C.B.; Naus, D.J.

    1990-01-01

    The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission has initiated a Structural Aging Program at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory to identify potential structural safety issues related to continued service of nuclear power plants and to establish criteria for evaluating and resolving these issues. One of the tasks in this program focuses on the establishment of a Structural Materials Information Center where data and information on the time variation of concrete and other structural material properties under the influence of pertinent environmental stressors and aging factors are being collected and assembled into a data base. This data base will be used to assist in the prediction of potential long-term deterioration of critical structural components in nuclear power plants and to establish limits on hostile environmental exposure for these structures and materials. Two complementary data base formats have been developed. The Structural Materials Handbook is an expandable, hard-copy reference document that contains complete sets of data and information for selected portland cement concrete, metallic reinforcement, prestressing tendon, and structural steel materials. Baseline data, reference properties and environmental information are presented in the handbook as tables, notes and graphs. The handbook, which will be published in four volumes, serves as the information source for the electronic data base. The Structural Materials Electronic Data Base is accessible by an IBM-compatible personal computer and provides an efficient means for searching the various data base files to locate materials with similar properties. Properties will be reported in the International System of Units (SI) and in customary units whenever possible. 7 refs., 3 figs., 4 tabs

  5. Unique Physician Identification Number (UPIN) Directory

    Data.gov (United States)

    U.S. Department of Health & Human Services — The Unique Physician Identification Number (UPIN) Directory contains selected information on physicians, doctors of Osteopathy, limited licensed practitioners and...

  6. Unique structure and optics of the lesser eyes of the box jellyfish Tripedalia cystophora

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Garm, A; Andersson, F; Nilsson, Dan-E

    2008-01-01

    mere light meters. The slit eyes, comprising four cell types, are complex and highly asymmetric. They also hold a lens-like structure, but its optical power is minute. Optical modeling suggests spatial resolution, but only in one plane. These unique and intriguing traits support strong peripheral......The visual system of box jellyfish comprises a total of 24 eyes. These are of four types and each probably has a special function. To investigate this hypothesis the morphology and optics of the lesser eyes, the pit and slit eyes, were examined. The pit eyes hold one cell type only and are probably...

  7. Scientific Support of Construction of Unique Buildings and Structures and Facilities of Increased Danger

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alekhin, V. N.; Antipin, A. A.; Gorodilov, S. N.

    2017-11-01

    A range of works on scientific support for the construction of unique buildings and the structures and facilities of increased danger, such as airport facilities, long-span and high-rise buildings is being implemented at the department “Computer Aided Design in Civil Engineering” of Ural Federal University. The scope of work includes: numerical simulation of wind and snow loads, analysis of progressive collapse and seismic impacts, verification of design solutions. The results of wind, snow loads and progressive collapse of airport buildings in the cities of Orenburg, Rostov-on-Don and Perm are considered in the article.

  8. Unique Structural Features of Influenza Virus H15 Hemagglutinin

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Tzarum, Netanel; McBride, Ryan; Nycholat, Corwin M.; Peng, Wenjie; Paulson, James C.; Wilson, Ian A. (Scripps)

    2017-04-12

    Influenza A H15 viruses are members of a subgroup (H7-H10-H15) of group 2 hemagglutinin (HA) subtypes that include H7N9 and H10N8 viruses that were isolated from humans during 2013. The isolation of avian H15 viruses is, however, quite rare and, until recently, geographically restricted to wild shorebirds and waterfowl in Australia. The HAs of H15 viruses contain an insertion in the 150-loop (loop beginning at position 150) of the receptor-binding site common to this subgroup and a unique insertion in the 260-loop compared to any other subtype. Here, we show that the H15 HA has a high preference for avian receptor analogs by glycan array analyses. The H15 HA crystal structure reveals that it is structurally closest to H7N9 HA, but the head domain of the H15 trimer is wider than all other HAs due to a tilt and opening of the HA1 subunits of the head domain. The extended 150-loop of the H15 HA retains the conserved conformation as in H7 and H10 HAs. Furthermore, the elongated 260-loop increases the exposed HA surface and can contribute to antigenic variation in H15 HAs. Since avian-origin H15 HA viruses have been shown to cause enhanced disease in mammalian models, further characterization and immune surveillance of H15 viruses are warranted.

    IMPORTANCEIn the last 2 decades, an apparent increase has been reported for cases of human infection by emerging avian influenza A virus subtypes, including H7N9 and H10N8 viruses isolated during 2013. H15 is the other member of the subgroup of influenza A virus group 2 hemagglutinins (HAs) that also include H7 and H10. H15 viruses have been restricted to Australia, but recent isolation of H15 viruses in western Siberia suggests that they could be spread more globally via the avian flyways that converge and emanate from this region. Here we report on characterization of the three-dimensional structure and receptor specificity of the H15 hemagglutinin, revealing distinct features and specificities that can

  9. Probing the Unique Role of Gallium in Amorphous Oxide Semiconductors through Structure-Property Relationships

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Moffitt, Stephanie L.; Zhu, Qimin; Ma, Qing; Falduto, Allison F.; Buchholz, D. Bruce; Chang, Robert P.H.; Mason, Thomas O.; Medvedeva, Julia E.; Marks, Tobin J.; Bedzyk, Michael J. (NWU); (MUST)

    2017-09-01

    This study explores the unique role of Ga in amorphous (a-) In[BOND]Ga[BOND]O oxide semiconductors through combined theory and experiment. It reveals substitutional effects that have not previously been attributed to Ga, and that are investigated by examining how Ga influences structure–property relationships in a series of pulsed laser deposited a-In[BOND]Ga[BOND]O thin films. Element-specific structural studies (X-ray absorption and anomalous scattering) show good agreement with the results of ab initio molecular dynamics simulations. This structural knowledge is used to understand the results of air-annealing and Hall effect electrical measurements. The crystallization temperature of a-IO is shown to increase by as much as 325 °C on substituting Ga for In. This increased thermal stability is understood on the basis of the large changes in local structure that Ga undergoes, as compared to In, during crystallization. Hall measurements reveal an initial sharp drop in both carrier concentration and mobility with increasing Ga incorporation, which moderates at >20 at% Ga content. This decline in both the carrier concentration and mobility with increasing Ga is attributed to dilution of the charge-carrying In[BOND]O matrix and to increased structural disorder. The latter effect saturates at high at% Ga.

  10. Might "Unique" Factors Be "Common"? On the Possibility of Indeterminate Common-Unique Covariances

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grayson, Dave

    2006-01-01

    The present paper shows that the usual factor analytic structured data dispersion matrix lambda psi lambda' + delta can readily arise from a set of scores y = lambda eta + epsilon, shere the "common" (eta) and "unique" (epsilon) factors have nonzero covariance: gamma = Cov epsilon,eta) is not equal to 0. Implications of this finding are discussed…

  11. A unique structure for the multiplexer in quantum-dot cellular automata to create a revolution in design of nanostructures

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Naji Asfestani, Mazaher; Rasouli Heikalabad, Saeed, E-mail: s.rasouli@iaut.ac.ir

    2017-05-01

    Quantum-dot cellular automata (QCA) is the advent of technology and suitable replacement for semiconductor transistor technology. In this paper, a unique structure for the 2:1 multiplexer is presented in QCA. The structure of this component is simple, ultra-efficient and very useful to implement the various logical functions. The proposed structure does not follow any Boolean function. It takes advantage of the inherent characteristics of quantum technology to produce the desired output. Based on these principles, we design the new and efficient structures for the 4:1 multiplexer and 8:1 multiplexer in the QCA technology. These structures are designed with QCADesigner simulator and simulation results are examined. Investigation results indicate the amazing performance of proposed structure compared to existing structures in terms of area, complexity, power consumption and latency.

  12. Unique hyper-thermal composting process in Kagoshima City forms distinct bacterial community structures.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tashiro, Yukihiro; Tabata, Hanae; Itahara, Asuka; Shimizu, Natsuki; Tashiro, Kosuke; Sakai, Kenji

    2016-11-01

    A unique compost, Satsuma soil, is produced from three types of wastewater sludge using hyper-thermal processes at temperatures much higher than that of general thermophilic processes in Kagoshima City, Japan. We analyzed the bacterial community structures of this hyper-thermal compost sample and other sludges and composts by a high-throughput barcoded pyrosequencing method targeting the 16S rRNA gene. In total, 621,076 reads were derived from 17 samples and filtered. Artificial sequences were deleted and the reads were clustered based on the operational taxonomic units (OTUs) at 97% similarity. Phylum-level analysis of the hyper-thermal compost revealed drastic changes of the sludge structures (each relative abundance) from Firmicutes (average 47.8%), Proteobacteria (average 22.3%), and Bacteroidetes (average 10.1%) to two main phyla including Firmicutes (73.6%) and Actinobacteria (25.0%) with less Proteobacteria (∼0.3%) and Bacteroidetes (∼0.1%). Furthermore, we determined the predominant species (each relative abundance) of the hyper-thermal compost including Firmicutes related to Staphylococcus cohnii (13.8%), Jeotgalicoccus coquinae (8.01%), and Staphylococcus lentus (5.96%), and Actinobacteria related to Corynebacterium stationis (6.41%), and found that these species were not predominant in wastewater sludge. In contrast, we did not observe any common structures among eight other composts produced, using the hyper-thermal composts as the inoculums, under thermophilic conditions from different materials. Principle coordinate analysis of the hyper-thermal compost indicated a large difference in bacterial community structures from material sludge and other composts. These results suggested that a distinct bacterial community structure was formed by hyper-thermal composting. Copyright © 2016 The Society for Biotechnology, Japan. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  13. Rationality, irrationality and escalating behavior in lowest unique bid auctions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Radicchi, Filippo; Baronchelli, Andrea; Amaral, Luís A N

    2012-01-01

    Information technology has revolutionized the traditional structure of markets. The removal of geographical and time constraints has fostered the growth of online auction markets, which now include millions of economic agents worldwide and annual transaction volumes in the billions of dollars. Here, we analyze bid histories of a little studied type of online auctions--lowest unique bid auctions. Similarly to what has been reported for foraging animals searching for scarce food, we find that agents adopt Lévy flight search strategies in their exploration of "bid space". The Lévy regime, which is characterized by a power-law decaying probability distribution of step lengths, holds over nearly three orders of magnitude. We develop a quantitative model for lowest unique bid online auctions that reveals that agents use nearly optimal bidding strategies. However, agents participating in these auctions do not optimize their financial gain. Indeed, as long as there are many auction participants, a rational profit optimizing agent would choose not to participate in these auction markets.

  14. Temporal and Statistical Information in Causal Structure Learning

    Science.gov (United States)

    McCormack, Teresa; Frosch, Caren; Patrick, Fiona; Lagnado, David

    2015-01-01

    Three experiments examined children's and adults' abilities to use statistical and temporal information to distinguish between common cause and causal chain structures. In Experiment 1, participants were provided with conditional probability information and/or temporal information and asked to infer the causal structure of a 3-variable mechanical…

  15. Problem communication (homeostatic structuring of information)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bogdanov, N I

    1982-01-01

    This paper investigates the fundamental connection of intellectual and homeostatic levels of treating information which appear in information structuring. The laws obtained can be applied to artificial intelligence in studies of communication and education. 4 references.

  16. Risk Informed Structural Systems Integrity Management

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Nielsen, Michael Havbro Faber

    2017-01-01

    The present paper is predominantly a conceptual contribution with an appraisal of major developments in risk informed structural integrity management for offshore installations together with a discussion of their merits and the challenges which still lie ahead. Starting point is taken in a selected...... overview of research and development contributions which have formed the basis for Risk Based Inspection Planning (RBI) as we know it today. Thereafter an outline of the methodical basis for risk informed structural systems integrity management, i.e. the Bayesian decision analysis is provided in summary....... The main focus is here directed on RBI for offshore facilities subject to fatigue damages. New ideas and methodical frameworks in the area of robustness and resilience modeling of structural systems are then introduced, and it is outlined how these may adequately be utilized to enhance Structural Integrity...

  17. Topic structure for information retrieval

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    He, J.; Sanderson, M.; Zhai, C.; Zobel, J.; Allan, J.; Aslam, J.A.

    2009-01-01

    In my research, I propose a coherence measure, with the goal of discovering and using topic structures within and between documents, of which I explore its extensions and applications in information retrieval.

  18. Accurate protein structure modeling using sparse NMR data and homologous structure information.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thompson, James M; Sgourakis, Nikolaos G; Liu, Gaohua; Rossi, Paolo; Tang, Yuefeng; Mills, Jeffrey L; Szyperski, Thomas; Montelione, Gaetano T; Baker, David

    2012-06-19

    While information from homologous structures plays a central role in X-ray structure determination by molecular replacement, such information is rarely used in NMR structure determination because it can be incorrect, both locally and globally, when evolutionary relationships are inferred incorrectly or there has been considerable evolutionary structural divergence. Here we describe a method that allows robust modeling of protein structures of up to 225 residues by combining (1)H(N), (13)C, and (15)N backbone and (13)Cβ chemical shift data, distance restraints derived from homologous structures, and a physically realistic all-atom energy function. Accurate models are distinguished from inaccurate models generated using incorrect sequence alignments by requiring that (i) the all-atom energies of models generated using the restraints are lower than models generated in unrestrained calculations and (ii) the low-energy structures converge to within 2.0 Å backbone rmsd over 75% of the protein. Benchmark calculations on known structures and blind targets show that the method can accurately model protein structures, even with very remote homology information, to a backbone rmsd of 1.2-1.9 Å relative to the conventional determined NMR ensembles and of 0.9-1.6 Å relative to X-ray structures for well-defined regions of the protein structures. This approach facilitates the accurate modeling of protein structures using backbone chemical shift data without need for side-chain resonance assignments and extensive analysis of NOESY cross-peak assignments.

  19. Extensive genetic diversity, unique population structure and evidence of genetic exchange in the sexually transmitted parasite Trichomonas vaginalis.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Melissa D Conrad

    Full Text Available Trichomonas vaginalis is the causative agent of human trichomoniasis, the most common non-viral sexually transmitted infection world-wide. Despite its prevalence, little is known about the genetic diversity and population structure of this haploid parasite due to the lack of appropriate tools. The development of a panel of microsatellite makers and SNPs from mining the parasite's genome sequence has paved the way to a global analysis of the genetic structure of the pathogen and association with clinical phenotypes.Here we utilize a panel of T. vaginalis-specific genetic markers to genotype 235 isolates from Mexico, Chile, India, Australia, Papua New Guinea, Italy, Africa and the United States, including 19 clinical isolates recently collected from 270 women attending New York City sexually transmitted disease clinics. Using population genetic analysis, we show that T. vaginalis is a genetically diverse parasite with a unique population structure consisting of two types present in equal proportions world-wide. Parasites belonging to the two types (type 1 and type 2 differ significantly in the rate at which they harbor the T. vaginalis virus, a dsRNA virus implicated in parasite pathogenesis, and in their sensitivity to the widely-used drug, metronidazole. We also uncover evidence of genetic exchange, indicating a sexual life-cycle of the parasite despite an absence of morphologically-distinct sexual stages.Our study represents the first robust and comprehensive evaluation of global T. vaginalis genetic diversity and population structure. Our identification of a unique two-type structure, and the clinically relevant phenotypes associated with them, provides a new dimension for understanding T. vaginalis pathogenesis. In addition, our demonstration of the possibility of genetic exchange in the parasite has important implications for genetic research and control of the disease.

  20. Extensive genetic diversity, unique population structure and evidence of genetic exchange in the sexually transmitted parasite Trichomonas vaginalis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Conrad, Melissa D; Gorman, Andrew W; Schillinger, Julia A; Fiori, Pier Luigi; Arroyo, Rossana; Malla, Nancy; Dubey, Mohan Lal; Gonzalez, Jorge; Blank, Susan; Secor, William E; Carlton, Jane M

    2012-01-01

    Trichomonas vaginalis is the causative agent of human trichomoniasis, the most common non-viral sexually transmitted infection world-wide. Despite its prevalence, little is known about the genetic diversity and population structure of this haploid parasite due to the lack of appropriate tools. The development of a panel of microsatellite makers and SNPs from mining the parasite's genome sequence has paved the way to a global analysis of the genetic structure of the pathogen and association with clinical phenotypes. Here we utilize a panel of T. vaginalis-specific genetic markers to genotype 235 isolates from Mexico, Chile, India, Australia, Papua New Guinea, Italy, Africa and the United States, including 19 clinical isolates recently collected from 270 women attending New York City sexually transmitted disease clinics. Using population genetic analysis, we show that T. vaginalis is a genetically diverse parasite with a unique population structure consisting of two types present in equal proportions world-wide. Parasites belonging to the two types (type 1 and type 2) differ significantly in the rate at which they harbor the T. vaginalis virus, a dsRNA virus implicated in parasite pathogenesis, and in their sensitivity to the widely-used drug, metronidazole. We also uncover evidence of genetic exchange, indicating a sexual life-cycle of the parasite despite an absence of morphologically-distinct sexual stages. Our study represents the first robust and comprehensive evaluation of global T. vaginalis genetic diversity and population structure. Our identification of a unique two-type structure, and the clinically relevant phenotypes associated with them, provides a new dimension for understanding T. vaginalis pathogenesis. In addition, our demonstration of the possibility of genetic exchange in the parasite has important implications for genetic research and control of the disease.

  1. The McMaster Optimal Aging Portal: Usability Evaluation of a Unique Evidence-Based Health Information Website

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dobbins, Maureen; Haynes, R. Brian; Iorio, Alfonso; Lavis, John N; Raina, Parminder

    2016-01-01

    Background Increasingly, older adults and their informal caregivers are using the Internet to search for health-related information. There is a proliferation of health information online, but the quality of this information varies, often based on exaggerated or dramatic findings, and not easily comprehended by consumers. The McMaster Optimal Aging Portal (Portal) was developed to provide Internet users with high-quality evidence about aging and address some of these current limitations of health information posted online. The Portal includes content for health professionals coming from three best-in-class resources (MacPLUS, Health Evidence, and Health Systems Evidence) and four types of content specifically prepared for the general public (Evidence Summaries, Web Resource Ratings, Blog Posts, and Twitter messages). Objective Our objectives were to share the findings of the usability evaluation of the Portal with particular focus on the content features for the general public and to inform designers of health information websites and online resources for older adults about key usability themes. Methods Data analysis included task performance during usability testing and qualitative content analyses of both the usability sessions and interviews to identify core themes. Results A total of 37 participants took part in 33 usability testing sessions and 21 focused interviews. Qualitative analysis revealed common themes regarding the Portal’s strengths and challenges to usability. The strengths of the website were related to credibility, applicability, browsing function, design, and accessibility. The usability challenges included reluctance to register, process of registering, searching, terminology, and technical features. Conclusions The study reinforced the importance of including end users during the development of this unique, dynamic, evidence-based health information website. The feedback was applied to iteratively improve website usability. Our findings can be

  2. Is Life Unique?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abel, David L.

    2011-01-01

    Is life physicochemically unique? No. Is life unique? Yes. Life manifests innumerable formalisms that cannot be generated or explained by physicodynamics alone. Life pursues thousands of biofunctional goals, not the least of which is staying alive. Neither physicodynamics, nor evolution, pursue goals. Life is largely directed by linear digital programming and by the Prescriptive Information (PI) instantiated particularly into physicodynamically indeterminate nucleotide sequencing. Epigenomic controls only compound the sophistication of these formalisms. Life employs representationalism through the use of symbol systems. Life manifests autonomy, homeostasis far from equilibrium in the harshest of environments, positive and negative feedback mechanisms, prevention and correction of its own errors, and organization of its components into Sustained Functional Systems (SFS). Chance and necessity—heat agitation and the cause-and-effect determinism of nature’s orderliness—cannot spawn formalisms such as mathematics, language, symbol systems, coding, decoding, logic, organization (not to be confused with mere self-ordering), integration of circuits, computational success, and the pursuit of functionality. All of these characteristics of life are formal, not physical. PMID:25382119

  3. Dragon pulse information management system (DPIMS): A unique model-based approach to implementing domain agnostic system of systems and behaviors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Anderson, Thomas S.

    2016-05-01

    The Global Information Network Architecture is an information technology based on Vector Relational Data Modeling, a unique computational paradigm, DoD network certified by USARMY as the Dragon Pulse Informa- tion Management System. This network available modeling environment for modeling models, where models are configured using domain relevant semantics and use network available systems, sensors, databases and services as loosely coupled component objects and are executable applications. Solutions are based on mission tactics, techniques, and procedures and subject matter input. Three recent ARMY use cases are discussed a) ISR SoS. b) Modeling and simulation behavior validation. c) Networked digital library with behaviors.

  4. Plutonium uniqueness

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Silver, G.L.

    1984-01-01

    A standard is suggested against which the putative uniqueness of plutonium may be tested. It is common folklore that plutonium is unique among the chemical elements because its four common oxidation states can coexist in the same solution. Whether this putative uniqueness appears only during transit to equilibrium, or only at equilibrium, or all of the time, is not generally made clear. But while the folklore may contain some truth, it cannot be put to test until some measure of 'uniqueness' is agreed upon so that quantitative comparisons are possible. One way of measuring uniqueness is as the magnitude of the product of the mole fractions of the element at equilibrium. A 'coexistence index' is defined and discussed. (author)

  5. Rationality, irrationality and escalating behavior in lowest unique bid auctions.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Filippo Radicchi

    Full Text Available Information technology has revolutionized the traditional structure of markets. The removal of geographical and time constraints has fostered the growth of online auction markets, which now include millions of economic agents worldwide and annual transaction volumes in the billions of dollars. Here, we analyze bid histories of a little studied type of online auctions--lowest unique bid auctions. Similarly to what has been reported for foraging animals searching for scarce food, we find that agents adopt Lévy flight search strategies in their exploration of "bid space". The Lévy regime, which is characterized by a power-law decaying probability distribution of step lengths, holds over nearly three orders of magnitude. We develop a quantitative model for lowest unique bid online auctions that reveals that agents use nearly optimal bidding strategies. However, agents participating in these auctions do not optimize their financial gain. Indeed, as long as there are many auction participants, a rational profit optimizing agent would choose not to participate in these auction markets.

  6. Rationality, Irrationality and Escalating Behavior in Lowest Unique Bid Auctions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Radicchi, Filippo; Baronchelli, Andrea; Amaral, Luís A. N.

    2012-01-01

    Information technology has revolutionized the traditional structure of markets. The removal of geographical and time constraints has fostered the growth of online auction markets, which now include millions of economic agents worldwide and annual transaction volumes in the billions of dollars. Here, we analyze bid histories of a little studied type of online auctions – lowest unique bid auctions. Similarly to what has been reported for foraging animals searching for scarce food, we find that agents adopt Lévy flight search strategies in their exploration of “bid space”. The Lévy regime, which is characterized by a power-law decaying probability distribution of step lengths, holds over nearly three orders of magnitude. We develop a quantitative model for lowest unique bid online auctions that reveals that agents use nearly optimal bidding strategies. However, agents participating in these auctions do not optimize their financial gain. Indeed, as long as there are many auction participants, a rational profit optimizing agent would choose not to participate in these auction markets. PMID:22279553

  7. Information Structures in Nash and Leader-Follower Strategies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    1981-01-01

    OICkASSIPICATION/ OOWNGRAOING IS. OISTNIIIUTION STATEMINT (ao tD. esPort ) * Approved for public release; distribution unlimited. 17. DISTRIBUTION STATEMENT...problems and two market models of duopoly ith this type of information structure are extensively analyzed and examined. DO jAN7, 1473 EDIION OF NV SS IS...information 3 structure is employed in both Nash games and optimal coordination problems and two market models of duopoly with this type of information

  8. Unique Intramolecular Electronic Communications in Mono-ferrocenylpyrimidine Derivatives: Correlation between Redox Properties and Structural Nature

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Xiang, Debo; Noel, Jerome; Shao, Huibo; Dupas, Georges; Merbouh, Nabyl; Yu, Hua-Zhong

    2015-01-01

    Highlights: • Unique intramolecular electronic communications (electron withdrawing and π-bond delocalization effects) exist in the mono-ferrocenylpyrimidine derivatives. • The redox potential shift correlates the pyrimidine ring torsion angle with the extent of electron delocalization. • The correlation between redox properties and structural nature in mono-ferrocenylpyrimidine derivatives is evident. - Abstract: The correlation between redox properties and structural nature in a complete set of mono-ferrocenylpyrimidine derivatives (2-ferrocenylpyrimidine, 2-FcPy; 4-ferrocenylpyrimidine, 4-FcPy; 5-ferrocenylpyrimidine, 5-FcPy) was evaluated by investigating the intramolecular electronic communications. Both conventional electrochemical measurements in organic solvents and thin-film voltammetric studies of these compounds were carried out. It was discovered that their formal potentials are significantly different from each other, and shift negatively in the order of 4-FcPy > 5-FcPy > 2-FcPy. This result suggests that the intramolecular electronic communication is dictated by the delocalization effect of the π-bonding systems in 2-FcPy, and that the electron-withdrawing effect of the nitrogen atoms in the pyrimidine ring plays the key role in 4-FcPy and 5-FcPy. The single crystal X-ray structure analyis and Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculation provided additional evidence (e.g., different torsion angles between the cyclopentadienyl and pyrimidine rings) to support the observed correlation between the redox properties and structural nature

  9. Information Entropy Measures for Stand Structural Diversity:Joint Entropy

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    Lei Xiangdong; Lu Yuanchang

    2004-01-01

    Structural diversity is the key attribute of a stand. A set of biodiversity measures in ecology was introduced in forest management for describing stand structure, of which Shannon information entropy (Shannon index) has been the most widely used measure of species diversity. It is generally thought that tree size diversity could serve as a good proxy for height diversity. However, tree size diversity and height diversity for stand structure is not completely consistent. Stand diameter cannot reflect height information completely. Either tree size diversity or height diversity is one-dimensional information entropy measure. This paper discussed the method of multiple-dimensional information entropy measure with the concept of joint entropy. It is suggested that joint entropy is a good measure for describing overall stand structural diversity.

  10. Structure information from fusion barriers

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    Pb, using the coupled reaction channel (CRC) method and correct structure information, have been analysed. The barrier distributions derived from these excitation functions including many of the significant channels are featureless, although these channels have considerable effects on the fusion excitation function.

  11. Standardized structure of electronic records for information exchange

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Galabova, Sevdalina; Trencheva, Tereza; Trenchev, Ivan

    2009-01-01

    In the paper is presented the structure of the electronic record whose form is standardized in ISO 2709:2008. This International Standard describes a generalized structure, a framework designed specially for communications between data processing systems and not for use as a processing format within systems.Basic terms are defined as follows: character, data field, directory, directory map, field, field separator etc. It’s presented the general structure of a record. The application analysis of this structure shows the effective information exchange in the widest range.The purpose of this research is to find out advantages and structure of the information exchange format standardized in ISO 2709:2008. Key words: Standardized structure, electronic records, exchange formats, data field, directory, directory map, indicators, identifiers

  12. Structural and biochemical analysis of a unique phosphatase from Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus reveals its structural and functional relationship with the protein tyrosine phosphatase class of phytase.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Robert J Gruninger

    Full Text Available Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus is an unusual δ-proteobacterium that invades and preys on other Gram-negative bacteria and is of potential interest as a whole cell therapeutic against pathogens of man, animals and crops. PTPs (protein tyrosine phosphatases are an important class of enzyme involved in desphosphorylating a variety of substrates, often with implications in cell signaling. The B. bacteriovorus open reading frame Bd1204 is predicted to encode a PTP of unknown function. Bd1204 is both structurally and mechanistically related to the PTP-like phytase (PTPLP class of enzymes and possesses a number of unique properties not observed in any other PTPLPs characterized to date. Bd1204 does not display catalytic activity against some common protein tyrosine phosphatase substrates but is highly specific for hydrolysis of phosphomonoester bonds of inositol hexakisphosphate. The structure reveals that Bd1204 has the smallest and least electropositive active site of all characterized PTPLPs to date yet possesses a unique substrate specificity characterized by a strict preference for inositol hexakisphosphate. These two active site features are believed to be the most significant contributors to the specificity of phytate degrading enzymes. We speculate that Bd1204 may be involved in phosphate acquisition outside of prey.

  13. Community structure informs species geographic distributions

    KAUST Repository

    Montesinos-Navarro, Alicia

    2018-05-23

    Understanding what determines species\\' geographic distributions is crucial for assessing global change threats to biodiversity. Measuring limits on distributions is usually, and necessarily, done with data at large geographic extents and coarse spatial resolution. However, survival of individuals is determined by processes that happen at small spatial scales. The relative abundance of coexisting species (i.e. \\'community structure\\') reflects assembly processes occurring at small scales, and are often available for relatively extensive areas, so could be useful for explaining species distributions. We demonstrate that Bayesian Network Inference (BNI) can overcome several challenges to including community structure into studies of species distributions, despite having been little used to date. We hypothesized that the relative abundance of coexisting species can improve predictions of species distributions. In 1570 assemblages of 68 Mediterranean woody plant species we used BNI to incorporate community structure into Species Distribution Models (SDMs), alongside environmental information. Information on species associations improved SDM predictions of community structure and species distributions moderately, though for some habitat specialists the deviance explained increased by up to 15%. We demonstrate that most species associations (95%) were positive and occurred between species with ecologically similar traits. This suggests that SDM improvement could be because species co-occurrences are a proxy for local ecological processes. Our study shows that Bayesian Networks, when interpreted carefully, can be used to include local conditions into measurements of species\\' large-scale distributions, and this information can improve the predictions of species distributions.

  14. Crystal structure of lactose permease in complex with an affinity inactivator yields unique insight into sugar recognition

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Chaptal, Vincent; Kwon, Seunghyug; Sawaya, Michael R.; Guan, Lan; Kaback, H. Ronald; Abramson, Jeff (UCLA); (TTU)

    2011-08-29

    Lactose permease of Escherichia coli (LacY) with a single-Cys residue in place of A122 (helix IV) transports galactopyranosides and is specifically inactivated by methanethiosulfonyl-galactopyranosides (MTS-gal), which behave as unique suicide substrates. In order to study the mechanism of inactivation more precisely, we solved the structure of single-Cys122 LacY in complex with covalently bound MTS-gal. This structure exhibits an inward-facing conformation similar to that observed previously with a slight narrowing of the cytoplasmic cavity. MTS-gal is bound covalently, forming a disulfide bond with C122 and positioned between R144 and W151. E269, a residue essential for binding, coordinates the C-4 hydroxyl of the galactopyranoside moiety. The location of the sugar is in accord with many biochemical studies.

  15. Informational laws of genome structures

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bonnici, Vincenzo; Manca, Vincenzo

    2016-06-01

    In recent years, the analysis of genomes by means of strings of length k occurring in the genomes, called k-mers, has provided important insights into the basic mechanisms and design principles of genome structures. In the present study, we focus on the proper choice of the value of k for applying information theoretic concepts that express intrinsic aspects of genomes. The value k = lg2(n), where n is the genome length, is determined to be the best choice in the definition of some genomic informational indexes that are studied and computed for seventy genomes. These indexes, which are based on information entropies and on suitable comparisons with random genomes, suggest five informational laws, to which all of the considered genomes obey. Moreover, an informational genome complexity measure is proposed, which is a generalized logistic map that balances entropic and anti-entropic components of genomes and is related to their evolutionary dynamics. Finally, applications to computational synthetic biology are briefly outlined.

  16. Structure Of Management Information In SNMP

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Oancea DANIEL

    2003-12-01

    Full Text Available In this article we present the Structure of Management Information from SNMP, for all three versions of SNMP, as well as the main differences between them. In the first part, two version of SNMP are presented: version 1, version 2; and in the last part the third version, that uses a security model for information protection, is presented.

  17. 4.0-A resolution cryo-EM structure of the mammalian chaperonin TRiC/CCT reveals its unique subunit arrangement.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cong, Yao; Baker, Matthew L; Jakana, Joanita; Woolford, David; Miller, Erik J; Reissmann, Stefanie; Kumar, Ramya N; Redding-Johanson, Alyssa M; Batth, Tanveer S; Mukhopadhyay, Aindrila; Ludtke, Steven J; Frydman, Judith; Chiu, Wah

    2010-03-16

    The essential double-ring eukaryotic chaperonin TRiC/CCT (TCP1-ring complex or chaperonin containing TCP1) assists the folding of approximately 5-10% of the cellular proteome. Many TRiC substrates cannot be folded by other chaperonins from prokaryotes or archaea. These unique folding properties are likely linked to TRiC's unique heterooligomeric subunit organization, whereby each ring consists of eight different paralogous subunits in an arrangement that remains uncertain. Using single particle cryo-EM without imposing symmetry, we determined the mammalian TRiC structure at 4.7-A resolution. This revealed the existence of a 2-fold axis between its two rings resulting in two homotypic subunit interactions across the rings. A subsequent 2-fold symmetrized map yielded a 4.0-A resolution structure that evinces the densities of a large fraction of side chains, loops, and insertions. These features permitted unambiguous identification of all eight individual subunits, despite their sequence similarity. Independent biochemical near-neighbor analysis supports our cryo-EM derived TRiC subunit arrangement. We obtained a Calpha backbone model for each subunit from an initial homology model refined against the cryo-EM density. A subsequently optimized atomic model for a subunit showed approximately 95% of the main chain dihedral angles in the allowable regions of the Ramachandran plot. The determination of the TRiC subunit arrangement opens the way to understand its unique function and mechanism. In particular, an unevenly distributed positively charged wall lining the closed folding chamber of TRiC differs strikingly from that of prokaryotic and archaeal chaperonins. These interior surface chemical properties likely play an important role in TRiC's cellular substrate specificity.

  18. Multivariate information-theoretic measures reveal directed information structure and task relevant changes in fMRI connectivity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lizier, Joseph T; Heinzle, Jakob; Horstmann, Annette; Haynes, John-Dylan; Prokopenko, Mikhail

    2011-02-01

    The human brain undertakes highly sophisticated information processing facilitated by the interaction between its sub-regions. We present a novel method for interregional connectivity analysis, using multivariate extensions to the mutual information and transfer entropy. The method allows us to identify the underlying directed information structure between brain regions, and how that structure changes according to behavioral conditions. This method is distinguished in using asymmetric, multivariate, information-theoretical analysis, which captures not only directional and non-linear relationships, but also collective interactions. Importantly, the method is able to estimate multivariate information measures with only relatively little data. We demonstrate the method to analyze functional magnetic resonance imaging time series to establish the directed information structure between brain regions involved in a visuo-motor tracking task. Importantly, this results in a tiered structure, with known movement planning regions driving visual and motor control regions. Also, we examine the changes in this structure as the difficulty of the tracking task is increased. We find that task difficulty modulates the coupling strength between regions of a cortical network involved in movement planning and between motor cortex and the cerebellum which is involved in the fine-tuning of motor control. It is likely these methods will find utility in identifying interregional structure (and experimentally induced changes in this structure) in other cognitive tasks and data modalities.

  19. Designing quantum information processing via structural physical approximation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bae, Joonwoo

    2017-10-01

    In quantum information processing it may be possible to have efficient computation and secure communication beyond the limitations of classical systems. In a fundamental point of view, however, evolution of quantum systems by the laws of quantum mechanics is more restrictive than classical systems, identified to a specific form of dynamics, that is, unitary transformations and, consequently, positive and completely positive maps to subsystems. This also characterizes classes of disallowed transformations on quantum systems, among which positive but not completely maps are of particular interest as they characterize entangled states, a general resource in quantum information processing. Structural physical approximation offers a systematic way of approximating those non-physical maps, positive but not completely positive maps, with quantum channels. Since it has been proposed as a method of detecting entangled states, it has stimulated fundamental problems on classifications of positive maps and the structure of Hermitian operators and quantum states, as well as on quantum measurement such as quantum design in quantum information theory. It has developed efficient and feasible methods of directly detecting entangled states in practice, for which proof-of-principle experimental demonstrations have also been performed with photonic qubit states. Here, we present a comprehensive review on quantum information processing with structural physical approximations and the related progress. The review mainly focuses on properties of structural physical approximations and their applications toward practical information applications.

  20. Edges and vertices in a unique signed circle in a signed graph

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Richard Behr

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available We examine the conditions under which a signed graph contains an edge or a vertex that is contained in a unique negative circle or a unique positive circle. For an edge in a unique signed circle, the positive and negative case require the same structure on the underlying graph, but the requirements on the signature are different. We characterize the structure of the underlying graph necessary to support such an edge in terms of bridges of a circle. We then use the results from the edge version of the problem to help solve the vertex version.

  1. What makes a crystal structure report valid?

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Spek, Anthony L.|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/156517566

    2018-01-01

    Single crystal X-ray crystallography has developed into a unique, highly automated and accessible tool to obtain detailed information on molecular structures. Proper archival makes that referees, readers and users of the results of reported crystal structures no longer need to depend solely on the

  2. Quantification of the Value of Structural Health Monitoring Information for Fatigue Deteriorating Structural Systems

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Thöns, Sebastian; Schneider, Ronald; Faber, Michael Havbro

    2015-01-01

    This paper addresses the quantification of the value of structural health monitoring (SHM) before its implementation for structural systems on the basis of its Value of Information (VoI). The value of SHM is calculated utilizing the Bayesian pre-posterior decision analysis modelling the structural...... life cycle performance, the integrity management and the structural risks. The relevance and precision of SHM information for the reduction of the structural system risks and the expected cost of the structural integrity management throughout the life cycle constitutes the value of SHM...... and is quantified with this framework. The approach is focused on fatigue deteriorating structural steel systems for which a continuous resistance deterioration formulation is introduced. In a case study, the value of SHM for load monitoring is calculated for a Daniels system subjected to fatigue deterioration...

  3. Value of Information Analysis in Structural Safety

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Konakli, Katerina; Faber, Michael Havbro

    2014-01-01

    of structural systems. In this context, experiments may refer to inspections or techniques of structural health monitoring. The Value of Information concept provides a powerful tool for determining whether the experimental cost is justified by the expected benefit and for identifying the optimal among different...... possible experimental schemes. This concept is elaborated through principal examples for structural components and system models. Sensitivity analyses are performed to investigate how the decision problem is influenced by the level of uncertainty that characterizes the structural properties, the amount...

  4. Information transfer in community structured multiplex networks

    Science.gov (United States)

    Solé Ribalta, Albert; Granell, Clara; Gómez, Sergio; Arenas, Alex

    2015-08-01

    The study of complex networks that account for different types of interactions has become a subject of interest in the last few years, specially because its representational power in the description of users interactions in diverse online social platforms (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.). The mathematical description of these interacting networks has been coined under the name of multilayer networks, where each layer accounts for a type of interaction. It has been shown that diffusive processes on top of these networks present a phenomenology that cannot be explained by the naive superposition of single layer diffusive phenomena but require the whole structure of interconnected layers. Nevertheless, the description of diffusive phenomena on multilayer networks has obviated the fact that social networks have strong mesoscopic structure represented by different communities of individuals driven by common interests, or any other social aspect. In this work, we study the transfer of information in multilayer networks with community structure. The final goal is to understand and quantify, if the existence of well-defined community structure at the level of individual layers, together with the multilayer structure of the whole network, enhances or deteriorates the diffusion of packets of information.

  5. Information transfer in community structured multiplex networks

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Albert eSolé Ribalta

    2015-08-01

    Full Text Available The study of complex networks that account for different types of interactions has become a subject of interest in the last few years, specially because its representational power in the description of users interactions in diverse online social platforms (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.. The mathematical description of these interacting networks has been coined under the name of multilayer networks, where each layer accounts for a type of interaction. It has been shown that diffusive processes on top of these networks present a phenomenology that cannot be explained by the naive superposition of single layer diffusive phenomena but require the whole structure of interconnected layers. Nevertheless, the description of diffusive phenomena on multilayer networks has obviated the fact that social networks have strong mesoscopic structure represented by different communities of individuals driven by common interests, or any other social aspect. In this work, we study the transfer of information in multilayer networks with community structure. The final goal is to understand and quantify, if the existence of well-defined community structure at the level of individual layers, together with the multilayer structure of the whole network, enhances or deteriorates the diffusion of packets of information.

  6. Speculative Attacks with Multiple Sources of Public Information

    OpenAIRE

    Cornand, Camille; Heinemann, Frank

    2005-01-01

    We propose a speculative attack model in which agents receive multiple public signals. It is characterised by its focus on an informational structure, which sets free from the strict separation between public information and private information. Diverse pieces of public information can be taken into account differently by players and are likely to lead to different appreciations ex post. This process defines players’ private value. The main result is to show that equilibrium uniqueness depend...

  7. On the uniqueness of fully informative rational expectations equilibria

    OpenAIRE

    Peter DeMarzo; Costis Skiadas

    1998-01-01

    This paper analyzes two equivalent equilibrium notions under asymmetric information: risk neutral rational expectations equilibria (rn-REE), and common knowledge equilibria. We show that the set of fully informative rn-REE is a singleton, and we provide necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence of partially informative rn-REE. In a companion paper (DeMarzo and Skiadas (1996)) we show that equilibrium prices for the larger class of quasi-complete economies can be characterized as r...

  8. Management information systems in the HMO environment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Neal, P A

    1982-01-01

    Realization of the unique potential of a health maintenance organization is dependent on the availability of adequate, accurate, and timely information. The particular data needed are determined by the structure of the organization; the physician compensation plans; requirements for state, federal, or other reporting; and many other factors. The author introduces the concept and objectives of the HMO, and presents the management information systems necessary for planning and monitoring HMO performance: patient information, utilization information, and management information for the staff and nonstaff HMO.

  9. Organizational Information Requirements, Media Richness and Structural Design

    OpenAIRE

    Richard L. Daft; Robert H. Lengel

    1986-01-01

    This paper answers the question, "Why do organizations process information?" Uncertainty and equivocality are defined as two forces that influence information processing in organizations. Organization structure and internal systems determine both the amount and richness of information provided to managers. Models are proposed that show how organizations can be designed to meet the information needs of technology, interdepartmental relations, and the environment. One implication for managers i...

  10. Programmable self-assembly of three-dimensional nanostructures from 10,000 unique components

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ong, Luvena L.; Hanikel, Nikita; Yaghi, Omar K.; Grun, Casey; Strauss, Maximilian T.; Bron, Patrick; Lai-Kee-Him, Josephine; Schueder, Florian; Wang, Bei; Wang, Pengfei; Kishi, Jocelyn Y.; Myhrvold, Cameron; Zhu, Allen; Jungmann, Ralf; Bellot, Gaetan; Ke, Yonggang; Yin, Peng

    2017-12-01

    Nucleic acids (DNA and RNA) are widely used to construct nanometre-scale structures with ever increasing complexity, with possible application in fields such as structural biology, biophysics, synthetic biology and photonics. The nanostructures are formed through one-pot self-assembly, with early kilodalton-scale examples containing typically tens of unique DNA strands. The introduction of DNA origami, which uses many staple strands to fold one long scaffold strand into a desired structure, has provided access to megadalton-scale nanostructures that contain hundreds of unique DNA strands. Even larger DNA origami structures are possible, but manufacturing and manipulating an increasingly long scaffold strand remains a challenge. An alternative and more readily scalable approach involves the assembly of DNA bricks, which each consist of four short binding domains arranged so that the bricks can interlock. This approach does not require a scaffold; instead, the short DNA brick strands self-assemble according to specific inter-brick interactions. First-generation bricks used to create three-dimensional structures are 32 nucleotides long, consisting of four eight-nucleotide binding domains. Protocols have been designed to direct the assembly of hundreds of distinct bricks into well formed structures, but attempts to create larger structures have encountered practical challenges and had limited success. Here we show that DNA bricks with longer, 13-nucleotide binding domains make it possible to self-assemble 0.1-1-gigadalton, three-dimensional nanostructures from tens of thousands of unique components, including a 0.5-gigadalton cuboid containing about 30,000 unique bricks and a 1-gigadalton rotationally symmetric tetramer. We also assembled a cuboid that contains around 10,000 bricks and about 20,000 uniquely addressable, 13-base-pair ‘voxels’ that serves as a molecular canvas for three-dimensional sculpting. Complex, user-prescribed, three-dimensional cavities can

  11. Laboratory Information Systems in Molecular Diagnostics: Why Molecular Diagnostics Data are Different.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Roy E; Henricks, Walter H; Sirintrapun, Sahussapont J

    2016-03-01

    Molecular diagnostic testing presents new challenges to information management that are yet to be sufficiently addressed by currently available information systems for the molecular laboratory. These challenges relate to unique aspects of molecular genetic testing: molecular test ordering, informed consent issues, diverse specimen types that encompass the full breadth of specimens handled by traditional anatomic and clinical pathology information systems, data structures and data elements specific to molecular testing, varied testing workflows and protocols, diverse instrument outputs, unique needs and requirements of molecular test reporting, and nuances related to the dissemination of molecular pathology test reports. By satisfactorily addressing these needs in molecular test data management, a laboratory information system designed for the unique needs of molecular diagnostics presents a compelling reason to migrate away from the current paper and spreadsheet information management that many molecular laboratories currently use. This paper reviews the issues and challenges of information management in the molecular diagnostics laboratory.

  12. Informational technologies in modern educational structure

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fedyanin, A. B.

    2017-01-01

    The article represents the structure of informational technologies complex that is applied in modern school education, describes the most important educational methods, shows the results of their implementation. It represents the forms and methods of educational process informative support usage, examined in respects of different aspects of their using that take into account also the psychological features of students. A range of anxious facts and dangerous trends connected with the usage and distribution of the informational technologies that are to be taken into account in the educational process of informatization is also indicated in the article. Materials of the article are based on the experience of many years in operation and development of the informational educational sphere on the basis of secondary school of the physics and mathematics specialization.

  13. Information processing for aerospace structural health monitoring

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lichtenwalner, Peter F.; White, Edward V.; Baumann, Erwin W.

    1998-06-01

    Structural health monitoring (SHM) technology provides a means to significantly reduce life cycle of aerospace vehicles by eliminating unnecessary inspections, minimizing inspection complexity, and providing accurate diagnostics and prognostics to support vehicle life extension. In order to accomplish this, a comprehensive SHM system will need to acquire data from a wide variety of diverse sensors including strain gages, accelerometers, acoustic emission sensors, crack growth gages, corrosion sensors, and piezoelectric transducers. Significant amounts of computer processing will then be required to convert this raw sensor data into meaningful information which indicates both the diagnostics of the current structural integrity as well as the prognostics necessary for planning and managing the future health of the structure in a cost effective manner. This paper provides a description of the key types of information processing technologies required in an effective SHM system. These include artificial intelligence techniques such as neural networks, expert systems, and fuzzy logic for nonlinear modeling, pattern recognition, and complex decision making; signal processing techniques such as Fourier and wavelet transforms for spectral analysis and feature extraction; statistical algorithms for optimal detection, estimation, prediction, and fusion; and a wide variety of other algorithms for data analysis and visualization. The intent of this paper is to provide an overview of the role of information processing for SHM, discuss various technologies which can contribute to accomplishing this role, and present some example applications of information processing for SHM implemented at the Boeing Company.

  14. CERN openlab and its partners - a unique collaboration

    CERN Multimedia

    CERN Bulletin

    2011-01-01

    Collaborating with industry is a long-standing tradition at CERN. CERN openlab is a unique example of a structure for CERN and industry to jointly carry out large-scale research and development in the field of information technologies. An initiative perceived by some as rather new, as already old by others,  the openlab this year celebrates its 10th anniversary.   CERN openlab 10th birthday celebration on 3 May 2011, on the occasion of its annual Board of Sponsors meeting, in the presence of the CERN Director-General, the partners, as well as past and present team members. © Fons Rademakers (CERN Photo Club). The idea of openlab started with Manuel Delfino, who was the head of the IT Department at the start of the millennium. “Links with industry were already in place in the computing field but lacked a general framework” explains François Fluckiger, the manager of openlab since its inception. For example, benchmarking of cutting-edge IT products ...

  15. Symmetry breaking and uniqueness for the incompressible Navier-Stokes equations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dascaliuc, Radu; Thomann, Enrique; Waymire, Edward C.; Michalowski, Nicholas

    2015-01-01

    The present article establishes connections between the structure of the deterministic Navier-Stokes equations and the structure of (similarity) equations that govern self-similar solutions as expected values of certain naturally associated stochastic cascades. A principle result is that explosion criteria for the stochastic cascades involved in the probabilistic representations of solutions to the respective equations coincide. While the uniqueness problem itself remains unresolved, these connections provide interesting problems and possible methods for investigating symmetry breaking and the uniqueness problem for Navier-Stokes equations. In particular, new branching Markov chains, including a dilogarithmic branching random walk on the multiplicative group (0, ∞), naturally arise as a result of this investigation

  16. Symmetry breaking and uniqueness for the incompressible Navier-Stokes equations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dascaliuc, Radu; Michalowski, Nicholas; Thomann, Enrique; Waymire, Edward C

    2015-07-01

    The present article establishes connections between the structure of the deterministic Navier-Stokes equations and the structure of (similarity) equations that govern self-similar solutions as expected values of certain naturally associated stochastic cascades. A principle result is that explosion criteria for the stochastic cascades involved in the probabilistic representations of solutions to the respective equations coincide. While the uniqueness problem itself remains unresolved, these connections provide interesting problems and possible methods for investigating symmetry breaking and the uniqueness problem for Navier-Stokes equations. In particular, new branching Markov chains, including a dilogarithmic branching random walk on the multiplicative group (0, ∞), naturally arise as a result of this investigation.

  17. 75 FR 50772 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Importation Bond Structure

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-08-17

    ... DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agency Information Collection Activities: Importation Bond Structure AGENCY: U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Department of Homeland... information collection requirement concerning the: Importation Bond Structure. This request for comment is...

  18. The Uniqueness of Milton Friedman

    OpenAIRE

    J. Daniel Hammond

    2013-01-01

    That there is no Milton Friedman today is not a mystery; the mystery is how Milton Friedman could have been. The facts of Friedman’s biography make him unique among twentieth-century public figures. He had extensive knowledge and expertise in mathematics and statistics. Yet he became a critic of ‘formal’ theory, exemplified by mathematical economics, that failed to engage with real-world facts and data, and of econometric modeling that presumed more knowledge of economic structure than Friedm...

  19. Unique microstructure and excellent mechanical properties of ADI

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jincheng Liu

    2006-11-01

    Full Text Available Amongst the cast iron family, ADI has a unique microstructure and an excellent, optimised combination of mechanical properties. The main microstructure of ADI is ausferrite, which is a mixture ofextremely fine acicular ferrite and stable, high carbon austenite. There are two types of austenite in ADI:(1 the coarser and more equiaxed blocks of austenite between non-parallel acicular structures, which exist mainly in the last solidified area, and (2 the thin films of ustenite between the individual ferriteplatelets in the acicular structure. It is this unique microstructure, which gives ADI its excellent static and dynamic properties, and good low temperature impact toughness. The effect of microstructure on the mechanical properties is explained in more detail by examining the microstructure at the atomic scale. Considering the nanometer grain sizes, the unique microstructure, the excellent mechanical properties,good castability, (which enables near net shape components to be produced economically and in large volumes, and the fact that it can be 100% recycled, it is not overemphasized to call ADI a high-tech,nanometer and “green” material. ADI still has the potential to be further improved and its production and the number of applications for ADI will continue to grow, driven by the resultant cost savings over alternative materials.

  20. Digital Learning Characteristics and Principles of Information Resources Knowledge Structuring

    Science.gov (United States)

    Belichenko, Margarita; Davidovitch, Nitza; Kravchenko, Yuri

    2017-01-01

    Analysis of principles knowledge representation in information systems led to the necessity of improving the structuring knowledge. It is caused by the development of software component and new possibilities of information technologies. The article combines methodological aspects of structuring knowledge and effective usage of information…

  1. Discrete and structurally unique proteins (tāpirins) mediate attachment of extremely thermophilic Caldicellulosiruptor species to cellulose.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Blumer-Schuette, Sara E; Alahuhta, Markus; Conway, Jonathan M; Lee, Laura L; Zurawski, Jeffrey V; Giannone, Richard J; Hettich, Robert L; Lunin, Vladimir V; Himmel, Michael E; Kelly, Robert M

    2015-04-24

    A variety of catalytic and noncatalytic protein domains are deployed by select microorganisms to deconstruct lignocellulose. These extracellular proteins are used to attach to, modify, and hydrolyze the complex polysaccharides present in plant cell walls. Cellulolytic enzymes, often containing carbohydrate-binding modules, are key to this process; however, these enzymes are not solely responsible for attachment. Few mechanisms of attachment have been discovered among bacteria that do not form large polypeptide structures, called cellulosomes, to deconstruct biomass. In this study, bioinformatics and proteomics analyses identified unique, discrete, hypothetical proteins ("tāpirins," origin from Māori: to join), not directly associated with cellulases, that mediate attachment to cellulose by species in the noncellulosomal, extremely thermophilic bacterial genus Caldicellulosiruptor. Two tāpirin genes are located directly downstream of a type IV pilus operon in strongly cellulolytic members of the genus, whereas homologs are absent from the weakly cellulolytic Caldicellulosiruptor species. Based on their amino acid sequence, tāpirins are specific to these extreme thermophiles. Tāpirins are also unusual in that they share no detectable protein domain signatures with known polysaccharide-binding proteins. Adsorption isotherm and trans vivo analyses demonstrated the carbohydrate-binding module-like affinity of the tāpirins for cellulose. Crystallization of a cellulose-binding truncation from one tāpirin indicated that these proteins form a long β-helix core with a shielded hydrophobic face. Furthermore, they are structurally unique and define a new class of polysaccharide adhesins. Strongly cellulolytic Caldicellulosiruptor species employ tāpirins to complement substrate-binding proteins from the ATP-binding cassette transporters and multidomain extracellular and S-layer-associated glycoside hydrolases to process the carbohydrate content of lignocellulose.

  2. Structural information theory and visual form

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Leeuwenberg, E.L.J.; Kaernbach, C.; Schroeger, E.; Mueller, H.

    2003-01-01

    The paper attends to basic characteristics of visual form as approached by Structural information theory, or SIT, (Leeuwenberg, Van der Helm and Van Lier). The introduction provides a global survey of this approach. The main part of the paper focuses on three characteristics of SIT. Each one is made

  3. Additivity, redundancy, and complementarity between structural information from NMR and SAXS data

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kojima, Masaki; Nonaka, Takamasa; Morimoto, Yasumasa; Nakagawa, Takashi; Yanagi, Shigeru; Kihara, Hiroshi

    2009-01-01

    At present protein structure in solution is determined by restrained molecular dynamics with distance restraints mainly derived from NMR. Although the small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) method also confers the structural information, its content is too small to determine the structure by itself. We previously developed a new algorithm that refines the protein structure by restrained molecular dynamics with SAXS constrains. In the present study we performed the protein structure calculation by restrained molecular dynamics with both NMR and SAXS constraints, in order to elucidate the essential structural information that defines the protein architecture. We used RNase T1 as a model protein, which has already been determined by NMR alone. At first we added SAXS constraints (h -1 ) into the original NMR-derived restraints for the calculation. The quality of the structure ensemble was significantly increased. Next we removed the original NMR restraints randomly in order to estimate the redundancy among the NMR-derived information. The essential topology of the resultant structures was hardly changed until the restraints were reduced below the half. Then we added the SAXS constraints into the remaining NMR restraints to expect they could complement the lost structural information. However, the structure was not recovered properly. By removing various types of structural information exclusively from the original NMR data set, we investigated whether the SAXS constraints could complement some kinds of structural information. The results showed that the SAXS could complement the tertiary structure to some extent while it could not secondary structure. (author)

  4. IDGenerator: unique identifier generator for epidemiologic or clinical studies

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Matthias Olden

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Creating study identifiers and assigning them to study participants is an important feature in epidemiologic studies, ensuring the consistency and privacy of the study data. The numbering system for identifiers needs to be random within certain number constraints, to carry extensions coding for organizational information, or to contain multiple layers of numbers per participant to diversify data access. Available software can generate globally-unique identifiers, but identifier-creating tools meeting the special needs of epidemiological studies are lacking. We have thus set out to develop a software program to generate IDs for epidemiological or clinical studies. Results Our software IDGenerator creates unique identifiers that not only carry a random identifier for a study participant, but also support the creation of structured IDs, where organizational information is coded into the ID directly. This may include study center (for multicenter-studies, study track (for studies with diversified study programs, or study visit (baseline, follow-up, regularly repeated visits. Our software can be used to add a check digit to the ID to minimize data entry errors. It facilitates the generation of IDs in batches and the creation of layered IDs (personal data ID, study data ID, temporary ID, external data ID to ensure a high standard of data privacy. The software is supported by a user-friendly graphic interface that enables the generation of IDs in both standard text and barcode 128B format. Conclusion Our software IDGenerator can create identifiers meeting the specific needs for epidemiologic or clinical studies to facilitate study organization and data privacy. IDGenerator is freeware under the GNU General Public License version 3; a Windows port and the source code can be downloaded at the Open Science Framework website: https://osf.io/urs2g/ .

  5. Cognitive Structures in Vocational Information Processing and Decision Making.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nevill, Dorothy D.; And Others

    1986-01-01

    Tested the assumptions that the structural features of vocational schemas affect vocational information processing and career self-efficacy. Results indicated that effective vocational information processing was facilitated by well-integrated systems that processed information along fewer dimensions. The importance of schematic organization on the…

  6. Teaching Text Structure: Examining the Affordances of Children's Informational Texts

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jones, Cindy D.; Clark, Sarah K.; Reutzel, D. Ray

    2016-01-01

    This study investigated the affordances of informational texts to serve as model texts for teaching text structure to elementary school children. Content analysis of a random sampling of children's informational texts from top publishers was conducted on text structure organization and on the inclusion of text features as signals of text…

  7. Unique Features of Halophilic Proteins.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Arakawa, Tsutomu; Yamaguchi, Rui; Tokunaga, Hiroko; Tokunaga, Masao

    2017-01-01

    Proteins from moderate and extreme halophiles have unique characteristics. They are highly acidic and hydrophilic, similar to intrinsically disordered proteins. These characteristics make the halophilic proteins soluble in water and fold reversibly. In addition to reversible folding, the rate of refolding of halophilic proteins from denatured structure is generally slow, often taking several days, for example, for extremely halophilic proteins. This slow folding rate makes the halophilic proteins a novel model system for folding mechanism analysis. High solubility and reversible folding also make the halophilic proteins excellent fusion partners for soluble expression of recombinant proteins.

  8. The Role of Visual Working Memory in Attentive Tracking of Unique Objects

    Science.gov (United States)

    Makovski, Tal; Jiang, Yuhong V.

    2009-01-01

    When tracking moving objects in space humans usually attend to the objects' spatial locations and update this information over time. To what extent do surface features assist attentive tracking? In this study we asked participants to track identical or uniquely colored objects. Tracking was enhanced when objects were unique in color. The benefit…

  9. AIM satellite-based research bridges the unique scientific aspects of the mission to informal education programs globally

    Science.gov (United States)

    Robinson, D.; Maggi, B.

    2003-04-01

    The Education and Public Outreach (EPO) component of the satellite-based research mission "Aeronomy of Ice In the Mesosphere" (AIM) will bridge the unique scientific aspects of the mission to informal education organizations. The informal education materials developed by the EPO will utilize AIM data and educate the public about the environmental implications associated with the data. This will assist with creating a scientifically literate workforce and in developing a citizenry capable of making educated decisions related to environmental policies and laws. The objective of the AIM mission is to understand the mechanisms that cause Polar Mesospheric Clouds (PMCs) to form, how their presence affects the atmosphere, and how change in the atmosphere affects them. PMCs are sometimes known as Noctilucent Clouds (NLCs) because of their visibility during the night from appropriate locations. The phenomenon of PMCs is an observable indicator of global change, a concern to all citizens. Recent sightings of these clouds over populated regions have compelled AIM educators to expand informal education opportunities to communities worldwide. Collaborations with informal organizations include: Museums/Science Centers; NASA Sun-Earth Connection Forum; Alaska Native Ways of Knowing Project; Amateur Noctilucent Cloud Observers Organization; National Parks Education Programs; After School Science Clubs; Public Broadcasting Associations; and National Public Radio. The Native Ways of Knowing Project is an excellent example of informal collaboration with the AIM EPO. This Alaska based project will assist native peoples of the state with photographing NLCs for the EPO website. It will also aid the EPO with developing materials for informal organizations that incorporate traditional native knowledge and science, related to the sky. Another AIM collaboration that will offer citizens lasting informal education opportunities is the one established with the United States National Parks

  10. A hierarachical data structure representation for fusing multisensor information

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Maren, A.J. [Tennessee Univ., Tullahoma, TN (United States). Space Inst.; Pap, R.M.; Harston, C.T. [Accurate Automation Corp., Chattanooga, TN (United States)

    1989-12-31

    A major problem with MultiSensor Information Fusion (MSIF) is establishing the level of processing at which information should be fused. Current methodologies, whether based on fusion at the data element, segment/feature, or symbolic levels, are each inadequate for robust MSIF. Data-element fusion has problems with coregistration. Attempts to fuse information using the features of segmented data relies on a Presumed similarity between the segmentation characteristics of each data stream. Symbolic-level fusion requires too much advance processing (including object identification) to be useful. MSIF systems need to operate in real-time, must perform fusion using a variety of sensor types, and should be effective across a wide range of operating conditions or deployment environments. We address this problem through developing a new representation level which facilitates matching and information fusion. The Hierarchical Data Structure (HDS) representation, created using a multilayer, cooperative/competitive neural network, meets this need. The HDS is an intermediate representation between the raw or smoothed data stream and symbolic interpretation of the data. it represents the structural organization of the data. Fused HDSs will incorporate information from multiple sensors. Their knowledge-rich structure aids top-down scene interpretation via both model matching and knowledge-based region interpretation.

  11. A hierarachical data structure representation for fusing multisensor information

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Maren, A.J. (Tennessee Univ., Tullahoma, TN (United States). Space Inst.); Pap, R.M.; Harston, C.T. (Accurate Automation Corp., Chattanooga, TN (United States))

    1989-01-01

    A major problem with MultiSensor Information Fusion (MSIF) is establishing the level of processing at which information should be fused. Current methodologies, whether based on fusion at the data element, segment/feature, or symbolic levels, are each inadequate for robust MSIF. Data-element fusion has problems with coregistration. Attempts to fuse information using the features of segmented data relies on a Presumed similarity between the segmentation characteristics of each data stream. Symbolic-level fusion requires too much advance processing (including object identification) to be useful. MSIF systems need to operate in real-time, must perform fusion using a variety of sensor types, and should be effective across a wide range of operating conditions or deployment environments. We address this problem through developing a new representation level which facilitates matching and information fusion. The Hierarchical Data Structure (HDS) representation, created using a multilayer, cooperative/competitive neural network, meets this need. The HDS is an intermediate representation between the raw or smoothed data stream and symbolic interpretation of the data. it represents the structural organization of the data. Fused HDSs will incorporate information from multiple sensors. Their knowledge-rich structure aids top-down scene interpretation via both model matching and knowledge-based region interpretation.

  12. Structure study of the tri-continuous mesoporous silica IBN-9 by electron crystallography

    KAUST Repository

    Zhang, Daliang; Sun, Junliang; Han, Yu; Zou, Xiaodong

    2011-01-01

    High resolution electron microscopy (HRTEM) has unique advantages for structural determination of nano-sized porous materials compared to X-ray diffraction, because it provides the important structure factor phase information which is lost

  13. Axiomatic Evaluation Method and Content Structure for Information Appliances

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guo, Yinni

    2010-01-01

    Extensive studies have been conducted to determine how best to present information in order to enhance usability, but not what information is needed to be presented for effective decision making. Hence, this dissertation addresses the factor structure of the nature of information needed for presentation and proposes a more effective method than…

  14. What is Unique About Extension Personnel in the City?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Julie Fox

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available Extension’s pursuit to better attract, develop, retain, and structure competent personnel in the city requires new strategies to build on the knowledge base established through previous research and practice. With the support of numerous national organizations, this study utilized a Competency Framework Development (CFD process to systematically tap into the knowledge of County Extension Directors serving in large urban communities. Findings indicated these local leaders need specific knowledge, skills, attitudes, and beliefs that are both similar and unique when compared with results from other Extension competency studies. Competencies identified included building social and financial capital, strategic planning and organizing, resource attraction and management, advocacy and impact accountability with multiple stakeholders, and others. A primary difference was that diversity, complexity, and scale in urban communities influenced the extent to which competencies are demonstrated. Research results can be applied to a competency model that incorporates intentional recruiting and hiring practices that reflect the diversity and priorities of the community, competency-based professional development, competitive compensation and retention tactics, and staffing structure and strategies. Further research can include CFD with various types of Extension personnel and perspectives. Extension leaders can continue learning alongside others who can help inform administrators about human capital policies and practices.

  15. Conceptual structure within and between modalities

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Katia eDilkina

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Current views of semantic memory share the assumption that conceptual representations are based on multi-modal experience, which activates distinct modality-specific brain regions. This proposition is widely accepted, yet little is known about how each modality contributes to conceptual knowledge and how the structure of this contribution varies across these multiple information sources. We used verbal feature lists, features from drawings and verbal co-occurrence statistics from latent semantic analysis to examine the informational structure in four domains of knowledge: perceptual, functional, encyclopedic and verbal. The goals of the analysis were three-fold: (1 to assess the structure within individual modalities; (2 to compare structures between modalities; and (3 to assess the degree to which concepts organize categorically or randomly.Our results indicated significant and unique structure in all four modalities: perceptually, concepts organize based on prominent features such as shape, size, color and parts; functionally, they group based on use and interaction; encyclopedically, they arrange based on commonality in location or behavior; and verbally, they group associatively or relationally. Visual/perceptual knowledge gives rise to the strongest hierarchical organization and is closest to classic taxonomic structure. Information is organized somewhat similarly in the perceptual and encyclopedic domains, which differs significantly from the structure in the functional and verbal domains. Notably, the verbal modality has the most unique organization, which is not at all categorical but also not random. The idiosyncrasy and complexity of conceptual structure across modalities begs the question of how all of these modality-specific experiences are fused together into coherent, multi-faceted yet unified concepts. Accordingly, both methodological and theoretical implications of the present findings are discussed.

  16. Characterization and visualization of RNA secondary structure Boltzmann ensemble via information theory.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lin, Luan; McKerrow, Wilson H; Richards, Bryce; Phonsom, Chukiat; Lawrence, Charles E

    2018-03-05

    The nearest neighbor model and associated dynamic programming algorithms allow for the efficient estimation of the RNA secondary structure Boltzmann ensemble. However because a given RNA secondary structure only contains a fraction of the possible helices that could form from a given sequence, the Boltzmann ensemble is multimodal. Several methods exist for clustering structures and finding those modes. However less focus is given to exploring the underlying reasons for this multimodality: the presence of conflicting basepairs. Information theory, or more specifically mutual information, provides a method to identify those basepairs that are key to the secondary structure. To this end we find most informative basepairs and visualize the effect of these basepairs on the secondary structure. Knowing whether a most informative basepair is present tells us not only the status of the particular pair but also provides a large amount of information about which other pairs are present or not present. We find that a few basepairs account for a large amount of the structural uncertainty. The identification of these pairs indicates small changes to sequence or stability that will have a large effect on structure. We provide a novel algorithm that uses mutual information to identify the key basepairs that lead to a multimodal Boltzmann distribution. We then visualize the effect of these pairs on the overall Boltzmann ensemble.

  17. [Construction of chemical information database based on optical structure recognition technique].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lv, C Y; Li, M N; Zhang, L R; Liu, Z M

    2018-04-18

    To create a protocol that could be used to construct chemical information database from scientific literature quickly and automatically. Scientific literature, patents and technical reports from different chemical disciplines were collected and stored in PDF format as fundamental datasets. Chemical structures were transformed from published documents and images to machine-readable data by using the name conversion technology and optical structure recognition tool CLiDE. In the process of molecular structure information extraction, Markush structures were enumerated into well-defined monomer molecules by means of QueryTools in molecule editor ChemDraw. Document management software EndNote X8 was applied to acquire bibliographical references involving title, author, journal and year of publication. Text mining toolkit ChemDataExtractor was adopted to retrieve information that could be used to populate structured chemical database from figures, tables, and textual paragraphs. After this step, detailed manual revision and annotation were conducted in order to ensure the accuracy and completeness of the data. In addition to the literature data, computing simulation platform Pipeline Pilot 7.5 was utilized to calculate the physical and chemical properties and predict molecular attributes. Furthermore, open database ChEMBL was linked to fetch known bioactivities, such as indications and targets. After information extraction and data expansion, five separate metadata files were generated, including molecular structure data file, molecular information, bibliographical references, predictable attributes and known bioactivities. Canonical simplified molecular input line entry specification as primary key, metadata files were associated through common key nodes including molecular number and PDF number to construct an integrated chemical information database. A reasonable construction protocol of chemical information database was created successfully. A total of 174 research

  18. Hepatic crown-like structure: a unique histological feature in non-alcoholic steatohepatitis in mice and humans.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Michiko Itoh

    Full Text Available Although macrophages are thought to be crucial for the pathogenesis of chronic inflammatory diseases, how they are involved in disease progression from simple steatosis to non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH is poorly understood. Here we report the unique histological structure termed "hepatic crown-like structures (hCLS" in the mouse model of human NASH; melanocortin-4 receptor deficient mice fed a Western diet. In hCLS, CD11c-positive macrophages aggregate to surround hepatocytes with large lipid droplets, which is similar to those described in obese adipose tissue. Histological analysis revealed that hCLS is closely associated with activated fibroblasts and collagen deposition. When treatment with clodronate liposomes effectively depletes macrophages scattered in the liver, with those in hCLS intact, hepatic expression of inflammatory and fibrogenic genes is unaffected, suggesting that hCLS is an important source of inflammation and fibrosis during the progression of NASH. Notably, the number of hCLS is positively correlated with the extent of liver fibrosis. We also observed increased number of hCLS in the liver of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease/NASH patients. Collectively, our data provide evidence that hCLS is involved in the development of hepatic inflammation and fibrosis, thereby suggesting its pathophysiologic role in disease progression from simple steatosis to NASH.

  19. Provision of a draft version for standard classification structure for information of radiation technologies through analyzing their information and derivation of its applicable requirements to the information system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jang, Sol Ah; Kim, Joo Yeon; Yoo, Ji Yup; Shin, Woo Ho; Park, Tai Jin; Song, Myung Jae

    2015-01-01

    Radiation technology is the one for developing new products or processes by applying radiation or for creating new functions in industry, research and medical fields, and its application is increasing consistently. For securing an advanced technology competitiveness, it is required to create a new added value by information consumer through providing an efficient system for supporting information, which is the infrastructure for research and development, contributed to its collection, analysis and use with a rapidity and structure in addition to some direct research and development. Provision of the management structure for information resources is especially crucial for efficient operating the system for supporting information in radiation technology, and then a standard classification structure of information must be first developed as the system for supporting information will be constructed. The standard classification structure has been analyzed by reviewing the definition of information resources in radiation technology, and those classification structures in similar systems operated by institute in radiation and other scientific fields. And, a draft version of the standard classification structure has been then provided as 7 large, 25 medium and 71 small classifications, respectively. The standard classification structure in radiation technology will be developed in 2015 through reviewing this draft version and experts' opinion. Finally, developed classification structure will be applied to the system for supporting information by considering the plan for constructing this system and database, and requirements for designing the system. Furthermore, this structure will be designed in the system for searching information by working to the individual need of information consumers

  20. Provision of a draft version for standard classification structure for information of radiation technologies through analyzing their information and derivation of its applicable requirements to the information system

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Jang, Sol Ah; Kim, Joo Yeon; Yoo, Ji Yup; Shin, Woo Ho; Park, Tai Jin; Song, Myung Jae [Korean Association for Radiation Application, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

    2015-02-15

    Radiation technology is the one for developing new products or processes by applying radiation or for creating new functions in industry, research and medical fields, and its application is increasing consistently. For securing an advanced technology competitiveness, it is required to create a new added value by information consumer through providing an efficient system for supporting information, which is the infrastructure for research and development, contributed to its collection, analysis and use with a rapidity and structure in addition to some direct research and development. Provision of the management structure for information resources is especially crucial for efficient operating the system for supporting information in radiation technology, and then a standard classification structure of information must be first developed as the system for supporting information will be constructed. The standard classification structure has been analyzed by reviewing the definition of information resources in radiation technology, and those classification structures in similar systems operated by institute in radiation and other scientific fields. And, a draft version of the standard classification structure has been then provided as 7 large, 25 medium and 71 small classifications, respectively. The standard classification structure in radiation technology will be developed in 2015 through reviewing this draft version and experts' opinion. Finally, developed classification structure will be applied to the system for supporting information by considering the plan for constructing this system and database, and requirements for designing the system. Furthermore, this structure will be designed in the system for searching information by working to the individual need of information consumers.

  1. SESAR: Addressing the need for unique sample identification in the Solid Earth Sciences

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lehnert, K. A.; Goldstein, S. L.; Lenhardt, C.; Vinayagamoorthy, S.

    2004-12-01

    The study of solid earth samples is key to our knowledge of Earth's dynamical systems and evolution. The data generated provide the basis for models and hypotheses in all disciplines of the Geosciences from tectonics to magmatic processes to mantle dynamics to paleoclimate research. Sample-based data are diverse ranging from major and trace element abundances, radiogenic and stable isotope ratios of rocks, minerals, fluid or melt inclusions, to age determinations and descriptions of lithology, texture, mineral or fossil content, stratigraphic context, physical properties. The usefulness of these data is critically dependent on their integration as a coherent data set for each sample. If different data sets for the same sample cannot be combined because the sample cannot be unambiguously recognized, valuable information is lost. The ambiguous naming of samples has been a major problem in the geosciences. Different samples are often given identical names, and there is a tendency for different people analyzing the same sample to rename it in their publications according to local conventions. This situation has generated significant confusion, with samples often losing their "history", making it difficult or impossible to link available data. This has become most evident through the compilation of geochemical data in relational databases such as PetDB, NAVDAT, and GEOROC. While the relational data structure allows linking of disparate data for samples published in different references, linkages cannot be established due to ambiguous sample names. SESAR is a response to this problem of ambiguous naming of samples. SESAR will create a common clearinghouse that provides a centralized registry of sample identifiers, to avoid ambiguity, to systematize sample designation, and ensure that all information associated with a sample would in fact be unique. The project will build a web-based digital registry for solid earth samples that will provide for the first time a way to

  2. RNACompress: Grammar-based compression and informational complexity measurement of RNA secondary structure

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chen Chun

    2008-03-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background With the rapid emergence of RNA databases and newly identified non-coding RNAs, an efficient compression algorithm for RNA sequence and structural information is needed for the storage and analysis of such data. Although several algorithms for compressing DNA sequences have been proposed, none of them are suitable for the compression of RNA sequences with their secondary structures simultaneously. This kind of compression not only facilitates the maintenance of RNA data, but also supplies a novel way to measure the informational complexity of RNA structural data, raising the possibility of studying the relationship between the functional activities of RNA structures and their complexities, as well as various structural properties of RNA based on compression. Results RNACompress employs an efficient grammar-based model to compress RNA sequences and their secondary structures. The main goals of this algorithm are two fold: (1 present a robust and effective way for RNA structural data compression; (2 design a suitable model to represent RNA secondary structure as well as derive the informational complexity of the structural data based on compression. Our extensive tests have shown that RNACompress achieves a universally better compression ratio compared with other sequence-specific or common text-specific compression algorithms, such as Gencompress, winrar and gzip. Moreover, a test of the activities of distinct GTP-binding RNAs (aptamers compared with their structural complexity shows that our defined informational complexity can be used to describe how complexity varies with activity. These results lead to an objective means of comparing the functional properties of heteropolymers from the information perspective. Conclusion A universal algorithm for the compression of RNA secondary structure as well as the evaluation of its informational complexity is discussed in this paper. We have developed RNACompress, as a useful tool

  3. The structure of Haemophilus influenzae prephenate dehydrogenase suggests unique features of bifunctional TyrA enzymes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chiu, Hsiu-Ju; Abdubek, Polat; Astakhova, Tamara; Axelrod, Herbert L.; Carlton, Dennis; Clayton, Thomas; Das, Debanu; Deller, Marc C.; Duan, Lian; Feuerhelm, Julie; Grant, Joanna C.; Grzechnik, Anna; Han, Gye Won; Jaroszewski, Lukasz; Jin, Kevin K.; Klock, Heath E.; Knuth, Mark W.; Kozbial, Piotr; Krishna, S. Sri; Kumar, Abhinav; Marciano, David; McMullan, Daniel; Miller, Mitchell D.; Morse, Andrew T.; Nigoghossian, Edward; Okach, Linda; Reyes, Ron; Tien, Henry J.; Trame, Christine B.; Bedem, Henry van den; Weekes, Dana; Xu, Qingping; Hodgson, Keith O.; Wooley, John; Elsliger, Marc-André; Deacon, Ashley M.; Godzik, Adam; Lesley, Scott A.; Wilson, Ian A.

    2010-01-01

    The crystal structure of the prephenate dehydrogenase component of the bifunctional H. influenzae TyrA reveals unique structural differences between bifunctional and monofunctional TyrA enzymes. Chorismate mutase/prephenate dehydrogenase from Haemophilus influenzae Rd KW20 is a bifunctional enzyme that catalyzes the rearrangement of chorismate to prephenate and the NAD(P) + -dependent oxidative decarboxylation of prephenate to 4-hydroxyphenylpyruvate in tyrosine biosynthesis. The crystal structure of the prephenate dehydrogenase component (HinfPDH) of the TyrA protein from H. influenzae Rd KW20 in complex with the inhibitor tyrosine and cofactor NAD + has been determined to 2.0 Å resolution. HinfPDH is a dimeric enzyme, with each monomer consisting of an N-terminal α/β dinucleotide-binding domain and a C-terminal α-helical dimerization domain. The structure reveals key active-site residues at the domain interface, including His200, Arg297 and Ser179 that are involved in catalysis and/or ligand binding and are highly conserved in TyrA proteins from all three kingdoms of life. Tyrosine is bound directly at the catalytic site, suggesting that it is a competitive inhibitor of HinfPDH. Comparisons with its structural homologues reveal important differences around the active site, including the absence of an α–β motif in HinfPDH that is present in other TyrA proteins, such as Synechocystis sp. arogenate dehydrogenase. Residues from this motif are involved in discrimination between NADP + and NAD + . The loop between β5 and β6 in the N-terminal domain is much shorter in HinfPDH and an extra helix is present at the C-terminus. Furthermore, HinfPDH adopts a more closed conformation compared with TyrA proteins that do not have tyrosine bound. This conformational change brings the substrate, cofactor and active-site residues into close proximity for catalysis. An ionic network consisting of Arg297 (a key residue for tyrosine binding), a water molecule, Asp206 (from

  4. Unique Path Partitions

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bessenrodt, Christine; Olsson, Jørn Børling; Sellers, James A.

    2013-01-01

    We give a complete classification of the unique path partitions and study congruence properties of the function which enumerates such partitions.......We give a complete classification of the unique path partitions and study congruence properties of the function which enumerates such partitions....

  5. Getting meaningful informed consent from older adults: a structured literature review of empirical research.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sugarman, J; McCrory, D C; Hubal, R C

    1998-04-01

    To perform a structured literature review of the published empirical research on informed consent with older adults in order to make recommendations to improve the informed consent process and to highlight areas needing further examination. Relevant literature was identified by searching electronic databases (AGELINE, BIOETHICSLINE, CancerLit, Ethics Index, Health, LegalTrac, MEDLINE, PAIS International, PsycInfo, and Sociofile). Studies were included if they were reports of primary research data about informed consent and, if patients or other subjects were used, older subjects were included in the sample. Data related to the aspect of informed consent under study (recruitment, decision-making capacity, voluntariness, disclosure of information, understanding of information, consent forms, authorization, and policies and procedures) were abstracted and entered into a specially designed database. Characterization of the population, age of subjects, setting, whether informed consent was being studied in the context of research or treatment, study design, the nature of outcome or dependent variables, independent variables (e.g., experimental conditions in a randomized controlled trial or patient/subject characteristics in a nonrandomized comparison), and results according to the aspect of informed consent under study. A total of 99 articles met all the inclusion criteria and posed 289 unique research questions covering a wide range of aspects of informed consent: recruitment (60); decision making capacity (21); voluntariness (6); disclosure (30); understanding (139); consent forms (7); authorization (11); policies (13); and other (2). In the secondary analyses of numerous studies, diminished understanding of informed consent information was associated with older age and fewer years of education. Older age was also sometimes associated with decreased participation in research. Studies of disclosure of informed consent information suggest strategies to improve

  6. Structure of Stenotrophomonas maltophilia FeoA complexed with zinc: a unique prokaryotic SH3-domain protein that possibly acts as a bacterial ferrous iron-transport activating factor

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Su, Yi-Che; Chin, Ko-Hsin; Hung, Hui-Chih; Shen, Gwan-Han; Wang, Andrew H.-J.; Chou, Shan-Ho

    2010-01-01

    The crystal structure of FeoA from Stenotrophomonas maltophilia has been determined to a resolution of 1.7 Å using an Se single-wavelength anomalous dispersion (Se-SAD) approach and revealed a unique dimer cross-linked by two zinc ions and six chloride ions. Iron is vital to the majority of prokaryotes, with ferrous iron believed to be the preferred form for iron uptake owing to its much better solubility. The major route for bacterial ferrous iron uptake is found to be via an Feo (ferrous iron-transport) system comprising the three proteins FeoA, FeoB and FeoC. Although the structure and function of FeoB have received much attention recently, the roles played by FeoA and FeoC have been little investigated to date. Here, the tertiary structure of FeoA from Stenotrophomonas maltophilia (Sm), a vital opportunistic pathogen in immunodepressed hosts, is reported. The crystal structure of SmFeoA has been determined to a resolution of 1.7 Å using an Se single-wavelength anomalous dispersion (Se-SAD) approach. Although SmFeoA bears low sequence identity to eukaryotic proteins, its structure is found to adopt a eukaryotic SH3-domain-like fold. It also bears weak similarity to the C-terminal SH3 domain of bacterial DtxR (diphtheria toxin regulator), with some unique characteristics. Intriguingly, SmFeoA is found to adopt a unique dimer cross-linked by two zinc ions and six anions (chloride ions). Since FeoB has been found to contain a G-protein-like domain with low GTPase activity, FeoA may interact with FeoB through the SH3–G-protein domain interaction to act as a ferrous iron-transport activating factor

  7. ERP evidence on the interaction between information structure and emotional salience of words.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Lin; Bastiaansen, Marcel; Yang, Yufang; Hagoort, Peter

    2013-06-01

    Both emotional words and words focused by information structure can capture attention. This study examined the interplay between emotional salience and information structure in modulating attentional resources in the service of integrating emotional words into sentence context. Event-related potentials (ERPs) to affectively negative, neutral, and positive words, which were either focused or nonfocused in question-answer pairs, were evaluated during sentence comprehension. The results revealed an early negative effect (90-200 ms), a P2 effect, as well as an effect in the N400 time window, for both emotional salience and information structure. Moreover, an interaction between emotional salience and information structure occurred within the N400 time window over right posterior electrodes, showing that information structure influences the semantic integration only for neutral words, but not for emotional words. This might reflect the fact that the linguistic salience of emotional words can override the effect of information structure on the integration of words into context. The interaction provides evidence for attention-emotion interactions at a later stage of processing. In addition, the absence of interaction in the early time window suggests that the processing of emotional information is highly automatic and independent of context. The results suggest independent attention capture systems of emotional salience and information structure at the early stage but an interaction between them at a later stage, during the semantic integration of words.

  8. Correlating Structural Order with Structural Rearrangement in Dusty Plasma Liquids: Can Structural Rearrangement be Predicted by Static Structural Information?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Su, Yen-Shuo; Liu, Yu-Hsuan; I, Lin

    2012-11-01

    Whether the static microstructural order information is strongly correlated with the subsequent structural rearrangement (SR) and their predicting power for SR are investigated experimentally in the quenched dusty plasma liquid with microheterogeneities. The poor local structural order is found to be a good alarm to identify the soft spot and predict the short term SR. For the site with good structural order, the persistent time for sustaining the structural memory until SR has a large mean value but a broad distribution. The deviation of the local structural order from that averaged over nearest neighbors serves as a good second alarm to further sort out the short time SR sites. It has the similar sorting power to that using the temporal fluctuation of the local structural order over a small time interval.

  9. A Novel Carbohydrate-binding Module from Sugar Cane Soil Metagenome Featuring Unique Structural and Carbohydrate Affinity Properties*

    Science.gov (United States)

    Campos, Bruna Medeia; Alvarez, Thabata Maria; Zanphorlin, Letícia Maria; Ematsu, Gabriela Cristina; Barud, Hernane; Polikarpov, Igor; Ruller, Roberto; Gilbert, Harry J.; Zeri, Ana Carolina de Mattos; Squina, Fabio Marcio

    2016-01-01

    Carbohydrate-binding modules (CBMs) are appended to glycoside hydrolases and can contribute to the degradation of complex recalcitrant substrates such as the plant cell wall. For application in bioethanol production, novel enzymes with high catalytic activity against recalcitrant lignocellulosic material are being explored and developed. In this work, we report the functional and structural study of CBM_E1, which was discovered through a metagenomics approach and is the founding member of a novel CBM family, CBM81. CBM_E1, which is linked to an endoglucanase, displayed affinity for mixed linked β1,3-β1,4-glucans, xyloglucan, Avicel, and cellooligosaccharides. The crystal structure of CBM_E1 in complex with cellopentaose displayed a canonical β-sandwich fold comprising two β-sheets. The planar ligand binding site, observed in a parallel orientation with the β-strands, is a typical feature of type A CBMs, although the expected affinity for bacterial crystalline cellulose was not detected. Conversely, the binding to soluble glucans was enthalpically driven, which is typical of type B modules. These unique properties of CBM_E1 are at the interface between type A and type B CBMs. PMID:27621314

  10. Formulation of EPICS record naming conventions in J-PARC linac and RCS. Build process of unique and standardized name

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fukuta, Shinpei; Kawase, Masato; Kikuzawa, Nobuhiro; Watanabe, Kazuhiko; Sakaki, Hironao; Takahashi, Hiroki

    2011-02-01

    J-PARC (Japan Proton Accelerator Research Complex) accelerator devices are controlled by the use of the software called EPICS (Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System). The unique name called an EPICS record is given to a control signal and data acquisition, Accelerator device control is achieved using the EPICS record. The requirement for the EPICS record name is 2 points; (1) no overlap of the EPICS record name, (2) the control contents can be easily imagined from the EPICS record name. To manage the EPICS record using relational database for the information management of the accelerator device in J-PARC, the naming structure is required so that a mechanical process can be performed easily. It was necessary to standardize the EPICS record name and the EPICS record structure to achieve these requirements. Therefore, we have formulated a guideline called 'EPICS record naming conventions' to decide to an EPICS record name uniquely and standardization. The abbreviated key word list of the accelerator devices and the control signal that compose the EPICS record name is appended to the EPICS record naming conventions. (author)

  11. Uniqueness and non-uniqueness of semigroups generated by singular diffusion operators

    CERN Document Server

    Eberle, Andreas

    1999-01-01

    This book addresses both probabilists working on diffusion processes and analysts interested in linear parabolic partial differential equations with singular coefficients. The central question discussed is whether a given diffusion operator, i.e., a second order linear differential operator without zeroth order term, which is a priori defined on test functions over some (finite or infinite dimensional) state space only, uniquely determines a strongly continuous semigroup on a corresponding weighted Lp space. Particular emphasis is placed on phenomena causing non-uniqueness, as well as on the relation between different notions of uniqueness appearing in analytic and probabilistic contexts.

  12. Information Architecture and the Comic Arts: Knowledge Structure and Access

    Science.gov (United States)

    Farmer, Lesley S. J.

    2015-01-01

    This article explains information architecture, focusing on comic arts' features for representing and structuring knowledge. Then it details information design theory and information behaviors relative to this format, also noting visual literacy. Next , applications of comic arts in education are listed. With this background, several research…

  13. KnoweScape - Analyzing the dynamics of information and knowledge landscapes

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Scharnhorst, A.M.

    2015-01-01

    There is no escape from the expansion of information, so that structuring and locating meaningful knowledge becomes ever more difficult. This project will tackle this urgent problem using the unique networking and capacity-building features provided by the COST framework. For the first time, a

  14. Unsupervised information extraction by text segmentation

    CERN Document Server

    Cortez, Eli

    2013-01-01

    A new unsupervised approach to the problem of Information Extraction by Text Segmentation (IETS) is proposed, implemented and evaluated herein. The authors' approach relies on information available on pre-existing data to learn how to associate segments in the input string with attributes of a given domain relying on a very effective set of content-based features. The effectiveness of the content-based features is also exploited to directly learn from test data structure-based features, with no previous human-driven training, a feature unique to the presented approach. Based on the approach, a

  15. Sparse regularization for EIT reconstruction incorporating structural information derived from medical imaging.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gong, Bo; Schullcke, Benjamin; Krueger-Ziolek, Sabine; Mueller-Lisse, Ullrich; Moeller, Knut

    2016-06-01

    Electrical impedance tomography (EIT) reconstructs the conductivity distribution of a domain using electrical data on its boundary. This is an ill-posed inverse problem usually solved on a finite element mesh. For this article, a special regularization method incorporating structural information of the targeted domain is proposed and evaluated. Structural information was obtained either from computed tomography images or from preliminary EIT reconstructions by a modified k-means clustering. The proposed regularization method integrates this structural information into the reconstruction as a soft constraint preferring sparsity in group level. A first evaluation with Monte Carlo simulations indicated that the proposed solver is more robust to noise and the resulting images show fewer artifacts. This finding is supported by real data analysis. The structure based regularization has the potential to balance structural a priori information with data driven reconstruction. It is robust to noise, reduces artifacts and produces images that reflect anatomy and are thus easier to interpret for physicians.

  16. Towards Mobile Information Systems for Indoor Space

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xiaoxiang Zhang

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available With the rapid development of Internet of things (IOT and indoor positioning technologies such as Wi-Fi and RFID, indoor mobile information systems have become a new research hotspot. Based on the unique features of indoor space and urgent needs on indoor mobile applications, in this paper we analyze some key issues in indoor mobile information systems, including positioning technologies in indoor environments, representation models for indoor spaces, query processing techniques for indoor moving objects, and index structures for indoor mobile applications. Then, we present an indoor mobile information management system named IndoorDB. Finally, we give some future research topics about indoor mobile information systems.

  17. Classical many-particle systems with unique disordered ground states

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, G.; Stillinger, F. H.; Torquato, S.

    2017-10-01

    Classical ground states (global energy-minimizing configurations) of many-particle systems are typically unique crystalline structures, implying zero enumeration entropy of distinct patterns (aside from trivial symmetry operations). By contrast, the few previously known disordered classical ground states of many-particle systems are all high-entropy (highly degenerate) states. Here we show computationally that our recently proposed "perfect-glass" many-particle model [Sci. Rep. 6, 36963 (2016), 10.1038/srep36963] possesses disordered classical ground states with a zero entropy: a highly counterintuitive situation . For all of the system sizes, parameters, and space dimensions that we have numerically investigated, the disordered ground states are unique such that they can always be superposed onto each other or their mirror image. At low energies, the density of states obtained from simulations matches those calculated from the harmonic approximation near a single ground state, further confirming ground-state uniqueness. Our discovery provides singular examples in which entropy and disorder are at odds with one another. The zero-entropy ground states provide a unique perspective on the celebrated Kauzmann-entropy crisis in which the extrapolated entropy of a supercooled liquid drops below that of the crystal. We expect that our disordered unique patterns to be of value in fields beyond glass physics, including applications in cryptography as pseudorandom functions with tunable computational complexity.

  18. ACToR Chemical Structure processing using Open Source ...

    Science.gov (United States)

    ACToR (Aggregated Computational Toxicology Resource) is a centralized database repository developed by the National Center for Computational Toxicology (NCCT) at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Free and open source tools were used to compile toxicity data from over 1,950 public sources. ACToR contains chemical structure information and toxicological data for over 558,000 unique chemicals. The database primarily includes data from NCCT research programs, in vivo toxicity data from ToxRef, human exposure data from ExpoCast, high-throughput screening data from ToxCast and high quality chemical structure information from the EPA DSSTox program. The DSSTox database is a chemical structure inventory for the NCCT programs and currently has about 16,000 unique structures. Included are also data from PubChem, ChemSpider, USDA, FDA, NIH and several other public data sources. ACToR has been a resource to various international and national research groups. Most of our recent efforts on ACToR are focused on improving the structural identifiers and Physico-Chemical properties of the chemicals in the database. Organizing this huge collection of data and improving the chemical structure quality of the database has posed some major challenges. Workflows have been developed to process structures, calculate chemical properties and identify relationships between CAS numbers. The Structure processing workflow integrates web services (PubChem and NIH NCI Cactus) to d

  19. Risk Management of Large RC Structures within Spatial Information System

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Qin, Jianjun; Faber, Michael Havbro

    2012-01-01

    Abstract: The present article addresses the development of a spatial information system (SIS), which aims to facilitate risk management of large‐scale concrete structures. The formulation of the SIS is based on ideas developed in the context of indicator‐based risk modeling for concrete structures...... subject to corrosion and geographical information system based risk modeling concerning large‐scale risk management. The term “risk management” here refers in particular to the process of condition assessment and optimization of the inspection and repair activities. The SIS facilitates the storage...... and handling of all relevant information to the risk management. The probabilistic modeling utilized in the condition assessment takes basis in a Bayesian hierarchical modeling philosophy. It facilitates the updating of risks as well as optimizing inspection plans whenever new information about the condition...

  20. Value of information-based inspection planning for offshore structures

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Irman, Arifian Agusta; Thöns, Sebastian; Leira, Bernt J.

    2017-01-01

    with each inspection strategy. A simplified and generic risk-based inspection planning utilizing pre- posterior Bayesian decision analysis had been proposed by Faber et al. [1] and Straub [2]. This paper provides considerations on the theoretical background and a Value of Information analysis......-based inspection planning. The paper will start out with a review of the state-of-art RBI planning procedure based on Bayesian decision theory and its application in offshore structure integrity management. An example of the Value of Information approach is illustrated and it is pointed to further research......Asset integrity and management is an important part of the oil and gas industry especially for existing offshore structures. With declining oil price, the production rate is an important factor to be maintained that makes integrity of the structures one of the main concerns. Reliability based...

  1. Informed consent: using a structured interview changes patients' attitudes towards informed consent.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dawes, P J; O'Keefe, L; Adcock, S

    1993-09-01

    Patients want to know more about their condition and its proposed treatment. Gaining patients' confidence before treatment reduces the changes of their seeking legal redress for an unexpected outcome. As part of a prospective study of informed consent for surgery we have assessed the attitudes of patients towards informed consent when different types of consent interview are used. We found that most patients are happy to do as their doctor advises but think the informal consent interview is important because it gives them information; they also want to know about most, but not all, complications of the procedure. One quarter worried about the anaesthetic, about one eighth worried about 'not waking up' and similar proportions worried about complications and other things such as pain and nausea. Most patients think that the consent form is a legal document. In addition patients who had an informal interview felt obliged to sign the consent form and thought it had medicolegal implications. In contrast those who had a structured interview felt less obliged to sign the consent form and more involved in the decision to operate.

  2. F-Type Lectins: A Highly Diversified Family of Fucose-Binding Proteins with a Unique Sequence Motif and Structural Fold, Involved in Self/Non-Self-Recognition

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gerardo R. Vasta

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available The F-type lectin (FTL family is one of the most recent to be identified and structurally characterized. Members of the FTL family are characterized by a fucose recognition domain [F-type lectin domain (FTLD] that displays a novel jellyroll fold (“F-type” fold and unique carbohydrate- and calcium-binding sequence motifs. This novel lectin family comprises widely distributed proteins exhibiting single, double, or greater multiples of the FTLD, either tandemly arrayed or combined with other structurally and functionally distinct domains, yielding lectin subunits of pleiotropic properties even within a single species. Furthermore, the extraordinary variability of FTL sequences (isoforms that are expressed in a single individual has revealed genetic mechanisms of diversification in ligand recognition that are unique to FTLs. Functions of FTLs in self/non-self-recognition include innate immunity, fertilization, microbial adhesion, and pathogenesis, among others. In addition, although the F-type fold is distinctive for FTLs, a structure-based search revealed apparently unrelated proteins with minor sequence similarity to FTLs that displayed the FTLD fold. In general, the phylogenetic analysis of FTLD sequences from viruses to mammals reveals clades that are consistent with the currently accepted taxonomy of extant species. However, the surprisingly discontinuous distribution of FTLDs within each taxonomic category suggests not only an extensive structural/functional diversification of the FTLs along evolutionary lineages but also that this intriguing lectin family has been subject to frequent gene duplication, secondary loss, lateral transfer, and functional co-option.

  3. Competing Structure, Competing Views: The Role of Formal and Informal Social Structures in Shaping Stakeholder Perceptions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Christina Prell

    2010-12-01

    Full Text Available What is social structure, and how does it influence the views and behaviors of land managers? In this paper, we unpack the term "social structure" in the context of current research on institutions, social networks, and their role(s in resource management. We identify two different kinds of structure, formal and informal, and explore how these link to views of land management and management practice. Formal structures refer to intentionally designed organizations that arise out of larger institutional arrangements; informal ones refer to social networks, based on the communication contacts individuals possess. Our findings show significant correlations between respondents' views regarding land management and their social networks; it is these informal structures that have greater influence on what stakeholders perceive. These findings suggest that stakeholders are less influenced by their particular organizational affiliation or category (e.g., "conservationist" versus "farmer", and more by whom they speak with on a regular basis regarding land management. We conclude with a discussion on the practical implications for resource managers wishing to "design" participatory management, arguing that, if "diversity" is the goal in designing such participatory processes, then diversity needs to translate beyond stakeholder categories to include consideration for the personal, social networks surrounding stakeholders.

  4. Breaking camouflage and detecting targets require optic flow and image structure information.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pan, Jing Samantha; Bingham, Ned; Chen, Chang; Bingham, Geoffrey P

    2017-08-01

    Use of motion to break camouflage extends back to the Cambrian [In the Blink of an Eye: How Vision Sparked the Big Bang of Evolution (New York Basic Books, 2003)]. We investigated the ability to break camouflage and continue to see camouflaged targets after motion stops. This is crucial for the survival of hunting predators. With camouflage, visual targets and distracters cannot be distinguished using only static image structure (i.e., appearance). Motion generates another source of optical information, optic flow, which breaks camouflage and specifies target locations. Optic flow calibrates image structure with respect to spatial relations among targets and distracters, and calibrated image structure makes previously camouflaged targets perceptible in a temporally stable fashion after motion stops. We investigated this proposal using laboratory experiments and compared how many camouflaged targets were identified either with optic flow information alone or with combined optic flow and image structure information. Our results show that the combination of motion-generated optic flow and target-projected image structure information yielded efficient and stable perception of camouflaged targets.

  5. Fluorescent Photo-conversion: A second chance to label unique cells.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mellott, Adam J; Shinogle, Heather E; Moore, David S; Detamore, Michael S

    2015-03-01

    Not all cells behave uniformly after treatment in tissue engineering studies. In fact, some treated cells display no signs of treatment or show unique characteristics not consistent with other treated cells. What if the "unique" cells could be isolated from a treated population, and further studied? Photo-convertible reporter proteins, such as Dendra2 , allow for the ability to selectively identify unique cells with a secondary label within a primary labeled treated population. In the current study, select cells were identified and labeled through photo-conversion of Dendra2 -transfected human Wharton's Jelly cells (hWJCs) for the first time. Robust photo-conversion of green-to-red fluorescence was achieved consistently in arbitrarily selected cells, allowing for precise cell identification of select hWJCs. The current study demonstrates a method that offers investigators the opportunity to selectively label and identify unique cells within a treated population for further study or isolation from the treatment population. Photo-convertible reporter proteins, such as Dendra2 , offer the ability over non-photo-convertible reporter proteins, such as green fluorescent protein, to analyze unique individual cells within a treated population, which allows investigators to gain more meaningful information on how a treatment affects all cells within a target population.

  6. Executive Functions Contribute Uniquely to Reading Competence in Minority Youth

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jacobson, Lisa A.; Koriakin, Taylor; Lipkin, Paul; Boada, Richard; Frijters, Jan; Lovett, Maureen; Hill, Dina; Willcutt, Erik; Gottwald, Stephanie; Wolf, Maryanne; Bosson-Heenan, Joan; Gruen, Jeffrey R.; Mahone, E. Mark

    2018-01-01

    Competent reading requires various skills beyond those for basic word reading (i.e., core language skills, rapid naming, phonological processing). Contributing “higher-level” or domain-general processes include information processing speed and executive functions (working memory, strategic problem solving, attentional switching). Research in this area has relied on largely Caucasian samples, with limited representation of children from racial or ethnic minority groups. This study examined contributions of executive skills to reading competence in 761 children of minority backgrounds. Hierarchical linear regressions examined unique contributions of executive functions (EF) to word reading, fluency, and comprehension. EF contributed uniquely to reading performance, over and above reading-related language skills; working memory contributed uniquely to all components of reading; while attentional switching, but not problem solving, contributed to isolated and contextual word reading and reading fluency. Problem solving uniquely predicted comprehension, suggesting that this skill may be especially important for reading comprehension in minority youth. Attentional switching may play a unique role in development of reading fluency in minority youth, perhaps as a result of the increased demand for switching between spoken versus written dialects. Findings have implications for educational and clinical practice with regard to reading instruction, remedial reading intervention, and assessment of individuals with reading difficulty. PMID:26755569

  7. Information transfer across intra/inter-structure of CDS and stock markets

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lim, Kyuseong; Kim, Sehyun; Kim, Soo Yong

    2017-11-01

    We investigate the information flow between industrial sectors in credit default swap and stock markets in the United States based on transfer entropy. Both markets have been studied with respect to dynamics and relations. Our approach considers the intra-structure of each financial market as well as the inter-structure between two markets through a moving window in order to scan a period from 2005 to 2012. We examine the information transfer with different k, especially k = 3, k = 5 and k = 7. Analysis indicates that the cases with k = 3 and k = 7 show the opposite trends but similar characteristics. Change in transfer entropy for intra-structure of CDS market precedes that of stock market in view of the entire time windows. Abrupt rise and fall in inter-structural information transfer between two markets are detected at the periods related to the financial crises, which can be considered as early warnings.

  8. Postposing and Information Structure in English and Farsi/Persian

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shafiei Soheila

    2014-03-01

    Full Text Available The term postposing denotes any construction in which a phrasal constituent appears to the right of its canonical position, leaving its initial position either empty or occupied by an expletive. Ward and Birner (2004 argue that postposed constructions preserve the old-before-new information structure paradigm in English. The present paper investigates postposed constituents in Persian to find out the information structure paradigm of such constructions. The data have been taken from 34 interviews. The findings show that various constituents might undergo postposing in spoken Farsi (known as Tehrani dialect, and, in contrast to English, NPs were found to be triggered in postposed position when the referent was hearer-old.

  9. Two unique ligand-binding clamps of Rhizopus oryzae starch binding domain for helical structure disruption of amylose.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ting-Ying Jiang

    Full Text Available The N-terminal starch binding domain of Rhizopus oryzae glucoamylase (RoSBD has a high binding affinity for raw starch. RoSBD has two ligand-binding sites, each containing a ligand-binding clamp: a polyN clamp residing near binding site I is unique in that it is expressed in only three members of carbohydrate binding module family 21 (CBM21 members, and a Y32/F58 clamp located at binding site II is conserved in several CBMs. Here we characterized different roles of these sites in the binding of insoluble and soluble starches using an amylose-iodine complex assay, atomic force microscopy, isothermal titration calorimetry, site-directed mutagenesis, and structural bioinformatics. RoSBD induced the release of iodine from the amylose helical cavity and disrupted the helical structure of amylose type III, thereby significantly diminishing the thickness and length of the amylose type III fibrils. A point mutation in the critical ligand-binding residues of sites I and II, however, reduced both the binding affinity and amylose helix disruption. This is the first molecular model for structure disruption of the amylose helix by a non-hydrolytic CBM21 member. RoSBD apparently twists the helical amylose strands apart to expose more ligand surface for further SBD binding. Repeating the process triggers the relaxation and unwinding of amylose helices to generate thinner and shorter amylose fibrils, which are more susceptible to hydrolysis by glucoamylase. This model aids in understanding the natural roles of CBMs in protein-glycan interactions and contributes to potential molecular engineering of CBMs.

  10. Acoustic fine structure may encode biologically relevant information for zebra finches.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Prior, Nora H; Smith, Edward; Lawson, Shelby; Ball, Gregory F; Dooling, Robert J

    2018-04-18

    The ability to discriminate changes in the fine structure of complex sounds is well developed in birds. However, the precise limit of this discrimination ability and how it is used in the context of natural communication remains unclear. Here we describe natural variability in acoustic fine structure of male and female zebra finch calls. Results from psychoacoustic experiments demonstrate that zebra finches are able to discriminate extremely small differences in fine structure, which are on the order of the variation in acoustic fine structure that is present in their vocal signals. Results from signal analysis methods also suggest that acoustic fine structure may carry information that distinguishes between biologically relevant categories including sex, call type and individual identity. Combined, our results are consistent with the hypothesis that zebra finches can encode biologically relevant information within the fine structure of their calls. This study provides a foundation for our understanding of how acoustic fine structure may be involved in animal communication.

  11. Unique Turbinal Morphology in Horseshoe Bats (Chiroptera: Rhinolophidae).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Curtis, Abigail A; Simmons, Nancy B

    2017-02-01

    The mammalian nasal fossa contains a set of delicate and often structurally complex bones called turbinals. Turbinals and associated mucosae function in regulating respiratory heat and water loss, increasing surface area for olfactory tissue, and directing airflow within the nasal fossa. We used high-resolution micro-CT scanning to investigate a unique maxilloturbinal morphology in 37 species from the bat family Rhinolophidae, which we compared with those of families Hipposideridae, Megadermatidae, and Pteropodidae. Rhinolophids exhibit numerous structural modifications along the nasopharyngeal tract associated with emission of high duty cycle echolocation calls via the nostrils. In rhinolophids, we found that the maxilloturbinals and a portion of ethmoturbinal I form a pair of strand-like bony structures on each side of the nasal chamber. These structures project anteriorly from the transverse lamina and complete a hairpin turn to project posteriorly down the nasopharyngeal duct, and vary in length among species. The strand-like maxilloturbinals in Rhinolophidae were not observed in our outgroups and represent a synapomorphy for this family, and are unique in form among mammals. Within Rhinolophidae, maxilloturbinal size and cross-sectional shape were correlated with phylogeny. We hypothesize that strand-shaped maxilloturbinals may function to reduce respiratory heat and water loss without greatly impacting echolocation call transmission since they provide increased mucosal surface area for heat and moisture exchange but occupy minimal space. Alternatively, they may play a role in transmission of echolocation calls since they are located directly along the path sound travels between the larynx and nostrils during call emission. Anat Rec, 300:309-325, 2017. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  12. Information structure influences depth of syntactic processing: event-related potential evidence for the Chomsky illusion.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Lin; Bastiaansen, Marcel; Yang, Yufang; Hagoort, Peter

    2012-01-01

    Information structure facilitates communication between interlocutors by highlighting relevant information. It has previously been shown that information structure modulates the depth of semantic processing. Here we used event-related potentials to investigate whether information structure can modulate the depth of syntactic processing. In question-answer pairs, subtle (number agreement) or salient (phrase structure) syntactic violations were placed either in focus or out of focus through information structure marking. P600 effects to these violations reflect the depth of syntactic processing. For subtle violations, a P600 effect was observed in the focus condition, but not in the non-focus condition. For salient violations, comparable P600 effects were found in both conditions. These results indicate that information structure can modulate the depth of syntactic processing, but that this effect depends on the salience of the information. When subtle violations are not in focus, they are processed less elaborately. We label this phenomenon the Chomsky illusion.

  13. The Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation-A Unique Window on the Early Universe

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hinshaw, Gary

    2010-01-01

    The cosmic microwave background radiation is the remnant heat from the Big Bang. It provides us with a unique probe of conditions in the early universe, long before any organized structures had yet formed. The anisotropy in the radiation's brightness yields important clues about primordial structure and additionally provides a wealth of information about the physics of the early universe. Within the framework of inflationary dark matter models, observations of the anisotropy on sub-degree angular scales reveals the signatures of acoustic oscillations of the photon-baryon fluid at a redshift of 11 00. Data from the first seven years of operation of the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) satellite provide detailed full-sky maps of the cosmic microwave background temperature and polarization anisotropy. Together, the data provide a wealth of cosmological information, including the age of the universe, the epoch when the first stars formed, and the overall composition of baryonic matter, dark matter, and dark energy. The results also provide constraints on the period of inflationary expansion in the very first moments of time. WMAP, part of NASA's Explorers program, was launched on June 30, 2001. The WMAP satellite was produced in a partnership between the Goddard Space Flight Center and Princeton University. The WMAP team also includes researchers at the Johns Hopkins University; the Canadian Institute of Theoretical Astrophysics; University of Texas; Oxford University; University of Chicago; Brown University; University of British Columbia; and University of California, Los Angeles.

  14. 15 CFR 50.5 - Fee structure for age search and citizenship information.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... THE CENSUS § 50.5 Fee structure for age search and citizenship information. Type of service Fee... 15 Commerce and Foreign Trade 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Fee structure for age search and citizenship information. 50.5 Section 50.5 Commerce and Foreign Trade Regulations Relating to Commerce and...

  15. Les structures secondaires dans l'ARN : une étude par mesure de forces sur molécules uniques

    OpenAIRE

    Bercy , Mathilde

    2015-01-01

    Traditionally, RNA has been considered as a mere intermediate between DNA, keeper of the genetic information, and proteins, which assume cells self-sustenance. With the discoveries of the transfert RNA in the 70s, and of the ribozymes in the 80s, RNA took on both roles: it can store information in its linear sequence, and tridimensional structuration enables catalytic functions. Since then, numerous roles devoted to RNA have been discovered, particularly for gene expression regulation. Most o...

  16. The closed-mindedness that wasn’t: Need for structure and expectancy-inconsistent information

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Markus eKemmelmeier

    2015-07-01

    Full Text Available Social-cognitive researchers have typically assumed that individuals high in need for structure or need for closure tend to be closed-minded: they are motivated to resist or ignore information that is inconsistent with existing beliefs but instead they rely on category-based expectancies. The present paper argues that this conclusion is not necessarily warranted because previous studies did not allow individual differences in categorical processing to emerge and did not consider different distributions of category-relevant information. Using a person memory paradigm, Experiments 1 and 2 show that, when categorical processing is optional, high need-for-structure individuals are especially likely to use this type processing to reduce uncertainty, which results in superior recall for expectancy-inconsistent information. Experiment 2 demonstrates that such information is also more likely to be used in judgment making, leading to judgmental moderation among high need-for-structure individuals. Experiments 3 and 4 used a person memory paradigm which requires categorical processing regardless of levels of need for structure. Experiment 3 and 4 demonstrate that, whether expectancy-consistent or -inconsistent information is recalled better is a function of whether the majority of available information is compatible or incompatible with an initial category-based expectancy. Experiment 4 confirmed that the extent to which high need-for-structure individuals attend to different types of information varies with their distribution. The discussion highlights that task affordances have a critical influences on the consequences of categorical processing for memory and social judgment. Thus, high need for structure does not necessarily equate closed-mindedness.

  17. The closed-mindedness that wasn't: need for structure and expectancy-inconsistent information.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kemmelmeier, Markus

    2015-01-01

    Social-cognitive researchers have typically assumed that individuals high in need for structure or need for closure tend to be closed-minded: they are motivated to resist or ignore information that is inconsistent with existing beliefs but instead they rely on category-based expectancies. The present paper argues that this conclusion is not necessarily warranted because previous studies did not allow individual differences in categorical processing to emerge and did not consider different distributions of category-relevant information. Using a person memory paradigm, Experiments 1 and 2 shows that, when categorical processing is optional, high need-for-structure individuals are especially likely to use this type processing to reduce uncertainty, which results in superior recall for expectancy-inconsistent information. Experiment 2 demonstrates that such information is also more likely to be used in judgment making, leading to judgmental moderation among high need-for-structure individuals. Experiments 3 and 4 used a person memory paradigm which requires categorical processing regardless of levels of need for structure. Experiments 3 and 4 demonstrate that, whether expectancy-consistent or -inconsistent information is recalled better is a function of whether the majority of available information is compatible or incompatible with an initial category-based expectancy. Experiment 4 confirmed that the extent to which high need-for-structure individuals attend to different types of information varies with their distribution. The discussion highlights that task affordances have a critical influence on the consequences of categorical processing for memory and social judgment. Thus, high need for structure does not necessarily equate closed-mindedness.

  18. Unique structural features facilitate lizard tail autotomy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sanggaard, Kristian W; Danielsen, Carl Chr; Wogensen, Lise; Vinding, Mads S; Rydtoft, Louise M; Mortensen, Martin B; Karring, Henrik; Nielsen, Niels Chr; Wang, Tobias; Thøgersen, Ida B; Enghild, Jan J

    2012-01-01

    Autotomy refers to the voluntary shedding of a body part; a renowned example is tail loss among lizards as a response to attempted predation. Although many aspects of lizard tail autotomy have been studied, the detailed morphology and mechanism remains unclear. In the present study, we showed that tail shedding by the Tokay gecko (Gekko gecko) and the associated extracellular matrix (ECM) rupture were independent of proteolysis. Instead, lizard caudal autotomy relied on biological adhesion facilitated by surface microstructures. Results based on bio-imaging techniques demonstrated that the tail of Gekko gecko was pre-severed at distinct sites and that its structural integrity depended on the adhesion between these segments.

  19. Information on Quantifiers and Argument Structure in English Learner's Dictionaries.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Thomas Hun-tak

    1993-01-01

    Lexicographers have been arguing for the inclusion of abstract and complex grammatical information in dictionaries. This paper examines the extent to which information about quantifiers and the argument structure of verbs is encoded in English learner's dictionaries. The Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary (1989), the Longman Dictionary of…

  20. Uniquely Strongly Clean Group Rings

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    WANG XIU-LAN

    2012-01-01

    A ring R is called clean if every element is the sum of an idempotent and a unit,and R is called uniquely strongly clean (USC for short) if every element is uniquely the sum of an idempotent and a unit that commute.In this article,some conditions on a ring R and a group G such that RG is clean are given.It is also shown that if G is a locally finite group,then the group ring RG is USC if and only if R is USC,and G is a 2-group.The left uniquely exchange group ring,as a middle ring of the uniquely clean ring and the USC ring,does not possess this property,and so does the uniquely exchange group ring.

  1. Structure of the large terminase from a hyperthermophilic virus reveals a unique mechanism for oligomerization and ATP hydrolysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xu, Rui-Gang; Jenkins, Huw T; Antson, Alfred A; Greive, Sandra J

    2017-12-15

    The crystal structure of the large terminase from the Geobacillus stearothermophilus bacteriophage D6E shows a unique relative orientation of the N-terminal adenosine triphosphatase (ATPase) and C-terminal nuclease domains. This monomeric 'initiation' state with the two domains 'locked' together is stabilized via a conserved C-terminal arm, which may interact with the portal protein during motor assembly, as predicted for several bacteriophages. Further work supports the formation of an active oligomeric state: (i) AUC data demonstrate the presence of oligomers; (ii) mutational analysis reveals a trans-arginine finger, R158, indispensable for ATP hydrolysis; (iii) the location of this arginine is conserved with the HerA/FtsK ATPase superfamily; (iv) a molecular docking model of the pentamer is compatible with the location of the identified arginine finger. However, this pentameric model is structurally incompatible with the monomeric 'initiation' state and is supported by the observed increase in kcat of ATP hydrolysis, from 7.8 ± 0.1 min-1 to 457.7 ± 9.2 min-1 upon removal of the C-terminal nuclease domain. Taken together, these structural, biophysical and biochemical data suggest a model where transition from the 'initiation' state into a catalytically competent pentameric state, is accompanied by substantial domain rearrangements, triggered by the removal of the C-terminal arm from the ATPase active site. © The Author(s) 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Nucleic Acids Research.

  2. Graduating to Postdoc: Information-Sharing in Support of Organizational Structures and Needs

    Science.gov (United States)

    Keller, Richard M.; Lucas, Paul J.; Compton, Michael M.; Stewart, Helen J.; Baya, Vinod; DelAlto, Martha

    1999-01-01

    The deployment of information-sharing systems in large organizations can significantly impact existing policies and procedures with regard to authority and control over information. Unless information-sharing systems explicitly support organizational structures and needs, these systems will be rejected summarily. The Postdoc system is a deployed Web-based information-sharing system created specifically to address organizational needs. Postdoc contains various organizational support features including a shared, globally navigable document space, as well as specialized access control, distributed administration, and mailing list features built around the key notion of hierarchical group structures. We review successes and difficulties in supporting organizational needs with Postdoc

  3. Teen camp: a unique approach to recruit future nurses.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Redding, Donna A; Riech, Sandy; Prater, Marsha A

    2004-01-01

    A collaborative and unique approach to interest high school students in nursing. To inform educators and nursing departments about an innovative approach to recruit future nurses. Professional literature and authors' experience. All students related positive experiences. The initial camp evaluation produced innovative input from the students, and each camp met its goal of creating career interest in the nursing profession.

  4. Single crystal structure analyses of scheelite-powellite CaW1-xMoxO4 solidsolutions and unique occurrence in Jisyakuyama skarn deposits

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yamashita, K.; Yoshiasa, A.; Miyazaki, H.; Tokuda, M.; Tobase, T.; Isobe, H.; Nishiyama, T.; Sugiyama, K.; Miyawaki, R.

    2017-12-01

    Jisyakuyama skarn deposit, Fukuchi, Fukuoka, Japan, shows a simple occurrenceformed by penetration of hot water into limestone cracks. A unique occurrence of scheelite-powellite CaW1-xMoxO4 minerals is observed in the skarn deposit. Many syntheticexperiments for scheelite-powellite solid solutions have been reported as research onfluorescent materials. In this system it is known that a complete continuous solid solution isformed even at room temperature. In this study, we have carried out the chemical analyses,crystal structural refinements and detail description of occurrence on scheelite-powelliteminerals. We have also attempted synthesis of single crystal of solid solution in a widecomposition range. The chemical compositions were determined by JEOL scanningelectron microscope and EDS, INCA system. We have performed the crystal structurerefinements of the scheelite-powellite CaW1-xMoxO4 solid solutions (x=0.0-1.0) byRIGAKU single-crystal structure analysis system RAPID. The R and S values are around0.0s and 1.03. As the result of structural refinements of natural products and many solidsolutions, we confirm that most large natural single crystals have compositions at bothendmembers, and large solid solution crystals are rare. The lattice constants, interatomicdistances and other crystallographic parameters for the solid solution change uniquely withcomposition and it was confirmed as a continuous solid solution. Single crystals of scheeliteendmember + powellite endmember + solid solution with various compositions form anaggregate in the deposit (Figure 1). Crystal shapes of powellite and scheelite arehypidiomorphic and allotriomorphic, respectively. Many solid solution crystals areaccompanied by scheelite endmember and a compositional gap is observed betweenpowellite and solid-solution crystals. The presence of several penetration solutions withsignificantly different W and Mo contents may be assumed. This research can be expectedto lead to giving restrictive

  5. Information structure design for databases a practical guide to data modelling

    CERN Document Server

    Mortimer, Andrew J

    2014-01-01

    Computer Weekly Professional Series: Information Structure Design for Databases: A Practical Guide to Data modeling focuses on practical data modeling covering business and information systems. The publication first offers information on data and information, business analysis, and entity relationship model basics. Discussions cover degree of relationship symbols, relationship rules, membership markers, types of information systems, data driven systems, cost and value of information, importance of data modeling, and quality of information. The book then takes a look at entity relationship mode

  6. Word order and information structure in Makhuwa-Enahara

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Wal, Guenever Johanna van der

    2009-01-01

    This thesis investigates the grammar of Makhuwa-Enahara, a Bantu language spoken in the north of Mozambique. The information structure is an influential factor in this language, determining the word order and the use of special conjugations known as conjoint and disjoint verb forms. The thesis

  7. Structural analysis and unique molecular recognition properties of a Bauhinia forficata lectin that inhibits cancer cell growth.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lubkowski, Jacek; Durbin, Sarah V; Silva, Mariana C C; Farnsworth, David; Gildersleeve, Jeffrey C; Oliva, Maria Luiza V; Wlodawer, Alexander

    2017-02-01

    Lectins have been used at length for basic research and clinical applications. New insights into the molecular recognition properties enhance our basic understanding of carbohydrate-protein interactions and aid in the design/development of new lectins. In this study, we used a combination of cell-based assays, glycan microarrays, and X-ray crystallography to evaluate the structure and function of the recombinant Bauhinia forficata lectin (BfL). The lectin was shown to be cytostatic for several cancer cell lines included in the NCI-60 panel; in particular, it inhibited growth of melanoma cancer cells (LOX IMVI) by over 95%. BfL is dimeric in solution and highly specific for binding of oligosaccharides and glycopeptides with terminal N-acetylgalactosamine (GalNAc). BfL was found to have especially strong binding (apparent K d  = 0.5-1.0 nm) to the tumor-associated Tn antigen. High-resolution crystal structures were determined for the ligand-free lectin, as well as for its complexes with three Tn glycopeptides, globotetraose, and the blood group A antigen. Extensive analysis of the eight crystal structures and comparison to structures of related lectins revealed several unique features of GalNAc recognition. Of special note, the carboxylate group of Glu126, lining the glycan-binding pocket, forms H-bonds with both the N-acetyl of GalNAc and the peptide amido group of Tn antigens. Stabilization provided by Glu126 is described here for the first time for any GalNAc-specific lectin. Taken together, the results provide new insights into the molecular recognition of carbohydrates and provide a structural understanding that will enable rational engineering of BfL for a variety of applications. Structural data are available in the PDB under the accession numbers 5T50, 5T52, 5T55, 5T54, 5T5L, 5T5J, 5T5P, and 5T5O. © 2016 Federation of European Biochemical Societies.

  8. A hierarchical structure approach to MultiSensor Information Fusion

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Maren, A.J. (Tennessee Univ., Tullahoma, TN (United States). Space Inst.); Pap, R.M.; Harston, C.T. (Accurate Automation Corp., Chattanooga, TN (United States))

    1989-01-01

    A major problem with image-based MultiSensor Information Fusion (MSIF) is establishing the level of processing at which information should be fused. Current methodologies, whether based on fusion at the pixel, segment/feature, or symbolic levels, are each inadequate for robust MSIF. Pixel-level fusion has problems with coregistration of the images or data. Attempts to fuse information using the features of segmented images or data relies an a presumed similarity between the segmentation characteristics of each image or data stream. Symbolic-level fusion requires too much advance processing to be useful, as we have seen in automatic target recognition tasks. Image-based MSIF systems need to operate in real-time, must perform fusion using a variety of sensor types, and should be effective across a wide range of operating conditions or deployment environments. We address this problem through developing a new representation level which facilitates matching and information fusion. The Hierarchical Scene Structure (HSS) representation, created using a multilayer, cooperative/competitive neural network, meets this need. The MSS is intermediate between a pixel-based representation and a scene interpretation representation, and represents the perceptual organization of an image. Fused HSSs will incorporate information from multiple sensors. Their knowledge-rich structure aids top-down scene interpretation via both model matching and knowledge-based,region interpretation.

  9. A hierarchical structure approach to MultiSensor Information Fusion

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Maren, A.J. [Tennessee Univ., Tullahoma, TN (United States). Space Inst.; Pap, R.M.; Harston, C.T. [Accurate Automation Corp., Chattanooga, TN (United States)

    1989-12-31

    A major problem with image-based MultiSensor Information Fusion (MSIF) is establishing the level of processing at which information should be fused. Current methodologies, whether based on fusion at the pixel, segment/feature, or symbolic levels, are each inadequate for robust MSIF. Pixel-level fusion has problems with coregistration of the images or data. Attempts to fuse information using the features of segmented images or data relies an a presumed similarity between the segmentation characteristics of each image or data stream. Symbolic-level fusion requires too much advance processing to be useful, as we have seen in automatic target recognition tasks. Image-based MSIF systems need to operate in real-time, must perform fusion using a variety of sensor types, and should be effective across a wide range of operating conditions or deployment environments. We address this problem through developing a new representation level which facilitates matching and information fusion. The Hierarchical Scene Structure (HSS) representation, created using a multilayer, cooperative/competitive neural network, meets this need. The MSS is intermediate between a pixel-based representation and a scene interpretation representation, and represents the perceptual organization of an image. Fused HSSs will incorporate information from multiple sensors. Their knowledge-rich structure aids top-down scene interpretation via both model matching and knowledge-based,region interpretation.

  10. The unique structural parameters of the underlying host galaxies in blue compact dwarfs

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Janowiecki, Steven; Salzer, John J.

    2014-01-01

    The nature of possible evolutionary pathways between various types of dwarf galaxies is still not fully understood. Blue compact dwarf galaxies (BCDs) provide a unique window into dwarf galaxy formation and evolution and are often thought of as an evolutionary stage between different classes of dwarf galaxies. In this study we use deep optical and near-infrared observations of the underlying hosts of BCDs in order to study the structural differences between different types of dwarf galaxies. When compared with dwarf irregular galaxies of similar luminosities, we find that the underlying hosts of BCDs have significantly more concentrated light distributions, with smaller scale lengths and brighter central surface brightnesses. We demonstrate here that the underlying hosts of BCDs are distinct from the broad continuum of typical dwarf irregular galaxies, and that it is unlikely that most dwarf irregular galaxies can transform into a BCD or vice versa. Furthermore, we find that the starburst in a BCD only brightens it on average by ∼0.8 mag (factor of two), in agreement with other studies. It appears that a BCD is a long-lived and distinct type of dwarf galaxy that exhibits an exceptionally concentrated matter distribution. We suggest that it is this compact mass distribution that enables the strong star formation events that characterize this class of dwarf galaxy, that the compactness of the underlying host can be used as a distinguishing parameter between BCDs and other dwarf galaxies, and that it can also be used to identify BCDs which are not currently experiencing an intense starburst event.

  11. Visualization of hierarchically structured information for human-computer interaction

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Cheon, Suh Hyun; Lee, J. K.; Choi, I. K.; Kye, S. C.; Lee, N. K. [Dongguk University, Seoul (Korea)

    2001-11-01

    Visualization techniques can be used to support operator's information navigation tasks on the system especially consisting of an enormous volume of information, such as operating information display system and computerized operating procedure system in advanced control room of nuclear power plants. By offering an easy understanding environment of hierarchically structured information, these techniques can reduce the operator's supplementary navigation task load. As a result of that, operators can pay more attention on the primary tasks and ultimately improve the cognitive task performance. In this report, an interface was designed and implemented using hyperbolic visualization technique, which is expected to be applied as a means of optimizing operator's information navigation tasks. 15 refs., 19 figs., 32 tabs. (Author)

  12. Application of combinatorial biocatalysis for a unique ring expansion of dihydroxymethylzearalenone.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rich, Joseph O; Budde, Cheryl L; McConeghey, Luke D; Cotterill, Ian C; Mozhaev, Vadim V; Singh, Sheo B; Goetz, Michael A; Zhao, Annie; Michels, Peter C; Khmelnitsky, Yuri L

    2009-06-01

    Combinatorial biocatalysis was applied to generate a diverse set of dihydroxymethylzearalenone analogs with modified ring structure. In one representative chemoenzymatic reaction sequence, dihydroxymethylzearalenone was first subjected to a unique enzyme-catalyzed oxidative ring opening reaction that creates two new carboxylic groups on the molecule. These groups served as reaction sites for further derivatization involving biocatalytic ring closure reactions with structurally diverse bifunctional reagents, including different diols and diamines. As a result, a library of cyclic bislactones and bislactams was created, with modified ring structures covering chemical space and structure activity relationships unattainable by conventional synthetic means.

  13. ERP evidence on the interaction between information structure and emotional salience of words

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Wang, L.; Bastiaansen, M.C.M.; Yang, Y.; Hagoort, P.

    2013-01-01

    Both emotional words and words focused by information structure can capture attention. This study examined the interplay between emotional salience and information structure in modulating attentional resources in the service of integrating emotional words into sentence context. Event-related

  14. Unique structural features facilitate lizard tail autotomy.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kristian W Sanggaard

    Full Text Available Autotomy refers to the voluntary shedding of a body part; a renowned example is tail loss among lizards as a response to attempted predation. Although many aspects of lizard tail autotomy have been studied, the detailed morphology and mechanism remains unclear. In the present study, we showed that tail shedding by the Tokay gecko (Gekko gecko and the associated extracellular matrix (ECM rupture were independent of proteolysis. Instead, lizard caudal autotomy relied on biological adhesion facilitated by surface microstructures. Results based on bio-imaging techniques demonstrated that the tail of Gekko gecko was pre-severed at distinct sites and that its structural integrity depended on the adhesion between these segments.

  15. ROS-TMS and Big Sensor Box: Platforms for Informationally Structured Environment

    OpenAIRE

    倉爪, 亮; ユンソク, ピョ; 辻, 徳生; 河村, 晃宏

    2017-01-01

    This paper proposes new software and hardware platforms for an informationally structured environment named ROS-TMS and Big Sensor Box. We started the development of a management system for an informationally structured environment named TMS (Town Management System) in Robot Town Project in 2005. Since then we are continuing our efforts for the improvement of the performance and the enhancement of the functions of the TMS. Recently, we launched a new version of TMS named ROS-TMS, which resolv...

  16. Structures data collection for The National Map using volunteered geographic information

    Science.gov (United States)

    Poore, Barbara S.; Wolf, Eric B.; Korris, Erin M.; Walter, Jennifer L.; Matthews, Greg D.

    2012-01-01

    The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has historically sponsored volunteered data collection projects to enhance its topographic paper and digital map products. This report describes one phase of an ongoing project to encourage volunteers to contribute data to The National Map using online editing tools. The USGS recruited students studying geographic information systems (GIS) at the University of Colorado Denver and the University of Denver in the spring of 2011 to add data on structures - manmade features such as schools, hospitals, and libraries - to four quadrangles covering metropolitan Denver. The USGS customized a version of the online Potlatch editor created by the OpenStreetMap project and populated it with 30 structure types drawn from the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS), a USGS database of geographic features. The students corrected the location and attributes of these points and added information on structures that were missing. There were two rounds of quality control. Student volunteers reviewed each point, and an in-house review of each point by the USGS followed. Nine-hundred and thirty-eight structure points were initially downloaded from the USGS database. Editing and quality control resulted in 1,214 structure points that were subsequently added to The National Map. A post-project analysis of the data shows that after student edit and peer review, 92 percent of the points contributed by volunteers met National Map Accuracy Standards for horizontal accuracy. Lessons from this project will be applied to later phases. These include: simplifying editing tasks and the user interfaces, stressing to volunteers the importance of adding structures that are missing, and emphasizing the importance of conforming to editorial guidelines for formatting names and addresses of structures. The next phase of the project will encompass the entire State of Colorado and will allow any citizen to contribute structures data. Volunteers will benefit from this

  17. WORK BREAKDOWN STRUCTURE FORMATION FOR IT-PROJECT OF INFORMATION SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Виктор Макарович ЛЕВЫКИН

    2015-06-01

    Full Text Available The approach for modeling the structure of IT-works project to create an information system as a forest domain ontology. The main features of information technology to manage such IT-projects.

  18. Information Propagation in Complex Networks : Structures and Dynamics

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Märtens, M.

    2018-01-01

    This thesis is a contribution to a deeper understanding of how information propagates and what this process entails. At its very core is the concept of the network: a collection of nodes and links, which describes the structure of the systems under investigation. The network is a mathematical model

  19. Ancestral informative marker selection and population structure visualization using sparse Laplacian eigenfunctions.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jun Zhang

    Full Text Available Identification of a small panel of population structure informative markers can reduce genotyping cost and is useful in various applications, such as ancestry inference in association mapping, forensics and evolutionary theory in population genetics. Traditional methods to ascertain ancestral informative markers usually require the prior knowledge of individual ancestry and have difficulty for admixed populations. Recently Principal Components Analysis (PCA has been employed with success to select SNPs which are highly correlated with top significant principal components (PCs without use of individual ancestral information. The approach is also applicable to admixed populations. Here we propose a novel approach based on our recent result on summarizing population structure by graph laplacian eigenfunctions, which differs from PCA in that it is geometric and robust to outliers. Our approach also takes advantage of the priori sparseness of informative markers in the genome. Through simulation of a ring population and the real global population sample HGDP of 650K SNPs genotyped in 940 unrelated individuals, we validate the proposed algorithm at selecting most informative markers, a small fraction of which can recover the similar underlying population structure efficiently. Employing a standard Support Vector Machine (SVM to predict individuals' continental memberships on HGDP dataset of seven continents, we demonstrate that the selected SNPs by our method are more informative but less redundant than those selected by PCA. Our algorithm is a promising tool in genome-wide association studies and population genetics, facilitating the selection of structure informative markers, efficient detection of population substructure and ancestral inference.

  20. Structures of Astromaterials Revealed by EBSD

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zolensky, M.

    2018-01-01

    Groups at the Johnson Space Center and the University of Tokyo have been using electron back-scattered diffraction (EBSD) to reveal the crystal structures of extraterrestrial minerals for many years. Even though we also routinely use transmission electron microscopy, synchrotron X-ray diffraction (SXRD), and conventional electron diffraction, we find that EBSD is the most powerful technique for crystal structure elucidation in many instances. In this talk I describe a few of the cases where we have found EBSD to provide crucial, unique information. See attachment.

  1. Knowledge structure representation and automated updates in intelligent information management systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Corey, Stephen; Carnahan, Richard S., Jr.

    1990-01-01

    A continuing effort to apply rapid prototyping and Artificial Intelligence techniques to problems associated with projected Space Station-era information management systems is examined. In particular, timely updating of the various databases and knowledge structures within the proposed intelligent information management system (IIMS) is critical to support decision making processes. Because of the significantly large amounts of data entering the IIMS on a daily basis, information updates will need to be automatically performed with some systems requiring that data be incorporated and made available to users within a few hours. Meeting these demands depends first, on the design and implementation of information structures that are easily modified and expanded, and second, on the incorporation of intelligent automated update techniques that will allow meaningful information relationships to be established. Potential techniques are studied for developing such an automated update capability and IIMS update requirements are examined in light of results obtained from the IIMS prototyping effort.

  2. A Review of Organizational Structures of Personal Information Management

    OpenAIRE

    Indratmo, J; Vassileva, Julita

    2008-01-01

    Personal information management (PIM) covers a large area of research fragmented into separate sub-areas such as file management, web bookmark organization, and email management. Consequently, it is hard to obtain a unified view of the various approaches to PIM developed in these different sub-areas. In this article, we synthesize and classify existing research on PIM based on the approach used to organize information items. We classify the organizational structures into five categories: hier...

  3. Unique features of the structure and interactions of mycobacterial uracil-DNA glycosylase: structure of a complex of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis enzyme in comparison with those from other sources.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kaushal, Prem Singh; Talawar, Ramappa K; Krishna, P D V; Varshney, Umesh; Vijayan, M

    2008-05-01

    Uracil-DNA glycosylase (UNG), a repair enzyme involved in the excision of uracil from DNA, from mycobacteria differs from UNGs from other sources, particularly in the sequence in the catalytically important loops. The structure of the enzyme from Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MtUng) in complex with a proteinaceous inhibitor (Ugi) has been determined by X-ray analysis of a crystal containing seven crystallographically independent copies of the complex. This structure provides the first geometric characterization of a mycobacterial UNG. A comparison of the structure with those of other UNG proteins of known structure shows that a central core region of the molecule is relatively invariant in structure and sequence, while the N- and C-terminal tails exhibit high variability. The tails are probably important in folding and stability. The mycobacterial enzyme exhibits differences in UNG-Ugi interactions compared with those involving UNG from other sources. The MtUng-DNA complex modelled on the basis of the known structure of the complex involving the human enzyme indicates a domain closure in the enzyme when binding to DNA. The binding involves a larger burial of surface area than is observed in binding by human UNG. The DNA-binding site of MtUng is characterized by the presence of a higher proportion of arginyl residues than is found in the binding site of any other UNG of known structure. In addition to the electrostatic effects produced by the arginyl residues, the hydrogen bonds in which they are involved compensate for the loss of some interactions arising from changes in amino-acid residues, particularly in the catalytic loops. The results arising from the present investigation represent unique features of the structure and interaction of mycobacterial Ungs.

  4. News from the Library: Online particle physics information: a unique compilation of information resources in particle physics

    CERN Multimedia

    CERN Library

    2012-01-01

    Are you looking for some specific information in particle physics? For example, the main literature databases, data repositories or laboratories...   Just go to the Libary's Online Particle Physics Information page. There you'll find a wide selection of relevant information, as well as resources in particle physics and related areas. The collection covers all aspects of the discipline - in addition to traditional scientific information resources you can find, for example, a selection of relevant blogs and art websites. This webpage is an extended and regularly updated version of the chapter on Online Particle Physics Information in the Review of Particle Properties. It is maintained by the CERN Library team which welcomes suggestions for additions and updates: library.desk@cern.ch.  

  5. What is IgG4? A review of the biology of a unique immunoglobulin subtype.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nirula, Ajay; Glaser, Scott M; Kalled, Susan L; Taylor, Frederick R; Taylora, Frederick R

    2011-01-01

    Recent descriptions of the group of clinical disorders collectively defined as IgG4-related systemic disease (IgG4-RSD) have prompted this review of the unique biology of the IgG4 antibody. This article will discuss IgG4 structure and function, the unique phenomenon of half-antibody exchange, and the implications of IgG4 biology for its proposed role in immunologic diseases. IgG4 antibodies have unique structural and functional properties and undergo 'half-antibody exchange' in vivo, resulting in recombined antibodies composed of two different binding specificities. The production of IgG4 antibodies appears to be driven in part by T helper 2 (Th2) cytokines that mediate allergic responses and IgE production. Although serum IgG4 levels in healthy individuals vary significantly, data from multiple sclerosis (MS) patients suggest tight regulation of individual IgG4 levels over time. IgG4-RSD represents a diverse group of clinical disorders unified by elevated IgG4 levels and specific histopathologic findings. A key unanswered question is whether IgG4, a relatively weak activator of effector cells, is pathogenic in these disorders. IgG4 is a unique antibody biologically and structurally. Increased understanding of its precise role in the clinical syndromes that comprise IgG4-RSD may ultimately elucidate the underlying pathogenesis.

  6. Exploring the structure and organization of information within nursing clinical handovers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Johnson, Maree; Jefferies, Diana; Nicholls, Daniel

    2012-10-01

    Clinical handover is the primary source of patient information for nurses; however, inadequate information transfer compromises patient safety. We investigated the content and organization of information conveyed at 81 handovers. A structure that captures and presents the information transferred at handover emerged: identification of the patient and clinical risks, clinical history/presentation, clinical status, care plan and outcomes/goals of care (ICCCO). This approach covers essential information while allowing for prioritization of information when required. Further research into the impact of ICCCO on patient safety is in progress. © 2012 Wiley Publishing Asia Pty Ltd.

  7. Nuclear orientation as a tool for studying the structure of very unstable nuclei

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wood, J.L.

    1985-01-01

    With the availability of modern isotope separator on-line systems it has become possible to make broad and systematic studies of low-energy low-spin nuclear structure. A vital ingredient in such a program is unique spin-parity assignments to all low-lying levels. A most desirable complement to spin-parity information is detailed spectroscopic information. Obtaining such information far from stability is difficult because of low activity production. Nuclear orientation provides a means for obtaining spin assignments using singles measurements. This is less demanding on source intensities than γ-γ angular correlation coincidence measurements. Further, nuclear orientation can provide information on magnetic moments and on multipole mixing ratios. A number of structural problems are discussed: the need for unique spin assignments in systematics schemes; the need to distinguish between E2+E0 and M1 transitions; the importance of measuring E2-M1 mixing ratios; and the value of magnetic moment information. Particular emphasis is placed on the desirability of obtaining such information in the neutron-deficient Pt, Au, Hg, Tl, Pb and Bi isotopes, based upon the experimental program at the UNISOR facility. (Auth.)

  8. Numerical Investigations into the Value of Information in Lifecycle Analysis of Structural Systems

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Konakli, Katerina; Sudret, Bruno; Faber, Michael Havbro

    2015-01-01

    of decisions related to maintenance of structural systems. In this context, experiments may refer to inspections or structural health monitoring. The value-of-information concept comprises a powerful tool for determining whether the experimental cost is justified by the expected gained benefit during...... investigations demonstrate how the decision problem is influenced by the assumed probabilistic models, including the type of probability distribution and the degree of uncertainty reflected in the coefficient of variation, the degradation law, the quantity and quality of information, and the probabilistic...... dependencies between the components of a system. Furthermore, challenges and potentials in value-of-information analysis for structural systems are discussed....

  9. Non-unique factorizations algebraic, combinatorial and analytic theory

    CERN Document Server

    Geroldinger, Alfred

    2006-01-01

    From its origins in algebraic number theory, the theory of non-unique factorizations has emerged as an independent branch of algebra and number theory. Focused efforts over the past few decades have wrought a great number and variety of results. However, these remain dispersed throughout the vast literature. For the first time, Non-Unique Factorizations: Algebraic, Combinatorial, and Analytic Theory offers a look at the present state of the theory in a single, unified resource.Taking a broad look at the algebraic, combinatorial, and analytic fundamentals, this book derives factorization results and applies them in concrete arithmetical situations using appropriate transfer principles. It begins with a basic introduction that can be understood with knowledge of standard basic algebra. The authors then move to the algebraic theory of monoids, arithmetic theory of monoids, the structure of sets of lengths, additive group theory, arithmetical invariants, and the arithmetic of Krull monoids. They also provide a s...

  10. Unique functional properties of somatostatin-expressing GABAergic neurons in mouse barrel cortex.

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Gentet, L.J.; Kremer, Y.; Taniguchi, H.; Huang, Z.J.; Staiger, J.F.; Petersen, C.C.H.

    2012-01-01

    Neocortical GABAergic neurons have diverse molecular, structural and electrophysiological features, but the functional correlates of this diversity are largely unknown. We found unique membrane potential dynamics of somatostatin-expressing (SOM) neurons in layer 2/3 of the primary somatosensory

  11. Modeling the Informal Economy in Mexico. A Structural Equation Approach

    OpenAIRE

    Brambila Macias, Jose

    2008-01-01

    This paper uses annual data for the period 1970-2006 in order to estimate and investigate the evolution of the Mexican informal economy. In order to do so, we model the informal economy as a latent variable and try to explain it through relationships between possible cause and indicator variables using structural equation modeling (SEM). Our results indicate that the Mexican informal sector at the beginning of the 1970’s initially accounted for 40 percent of GDP while slightly decreasing to s...

  12. Cosmological parameters from large scale structure - geometric versus shape information

    CERN Document Server

    Hamann, Jan; Lesgourgues, Julien; Rampf, Cornelius; Wong, Yvonne Y Y

    2010-01-01

    The matter power spectrum as derived from large scale structure (LSS) surveys contains two important and distinct pieces of information: an overall smooth shape and the imprint of baryon acoustic oscillations (BAO). We investigate the separate impact of these two types of information on cosmological parameter estimation, and show that for the simplest cosmological models, the broad-band shape information currently contained in the SDSS DR7 halo power spectrum (HPS) is by far superseded by geometric information derived from the baryonic features. An immediate corollary is that contrary to popular beliefs, the upper limit on the neutrino mass m_\

  13. ProCKSI: a decision support system for Protein (Structure Comparison, Knowledge, Similarity and Information

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Błażewicz Jacek

    2007-10-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background We introduce the decision support system for Protein (Structure Comparison, Knowledge, Similarity and Information (ProCKSI. ProCKSI integrates various protein similarity measures through an easy to use interface that allows the comparison of multiple proteins simultaneously. It employs the Universal Similarity Metric (USM, the Maximum Contact Map Overlap (MaxCMO of protein structures and other external methods such as the DaliLite and the TM-align methods, the Combinatorial Extension (CE of the optimal path, and the FAST Align and Search Tool (FAST. Additionally, ProCKSI allows the user to upload a user-defined similarity matrix supplementing the methods mentioned, and computes a similarity consensus in order to provide a rich, integrated, multicriteria view of large datasets of protein structures. Results We present ProCKSI's architecture and workflow describing its intuitive user interface, and show its potential on three distinct test-cases. In the first case, ProCKSI is used to evaluate the results of a previous CASP competition, assessing the similarity of proposed models for given targets where the structures could have a large deviation from one another. To perform this type of comparison reliably, we introduce a new consensus method. The second study deals with the verification of a classification scheme for protein kinases, originally derived by sequence comparison by Hanks and Hunter, but here we use a consensus similarity measure based on structures. In the third experiment using the Rost and Sander dataset (RS126, we investigate how a combination of different sets of similarity measures influences the quality and performance of ProCKSI's new consensus measure. ProCKSI performs well with all three datasets, showing its potential for complex, simultaneous multi-method assessment of structural similarity in large protein datasets. Furthermore, combining different similarity measures is usually more robust than

  14. Topical Review: Unique Contributions of Magnetic Resonance Imaging to Pediatric Psychology Research.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jensen, Chad D; Duraccio, Kara M; Carbine, Kaylie M; Kirwan, C Brock

    2016-03-01

    This review aims to provide a brief introduction of the utility of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) methods in pediatric psychology research, describe several exemplar studies that highlight the unique benefits of MRI techniques for pediatric psychology research, and detail methods for addressing several challenges inherent to pediatric MRI research. Literature review. Numerous useful applications of MRI research in pediatric psychology have been illustrated in published research. MRI methods yield information that cannot be obtained using neuropsychological or behavioral measures. Using MRI in pediatric psychology research may facilitate examination of neural structures and processes that underlie health behaviors. Challenges inherent to conducting MRI research with pediatric research participants (e.g., head movement) may be addressed using evidence-based strategies. We encourage pediatric psychology researchers to consider adopting MRI techniques to answer research questions relevant to pediatric health and illness. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society of Pediatric Psychology. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  15. Towards a Structurational Theory of Information Systems: a substantive case analysis

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Rose, Jeremy; Hackney, R. H

    2003-01-01

    This paper employs the analysis of an interpretive case study within a Regional Train Operating Company (RTOC) to arrive at theoretical understandings of Information Systems (IS). Giddens’ ‘structuration theory’ is developed which offers an account of structure and agency; social practices develo...

  16. The Structure and Assessment of a Unique and Popular Interdisciplinary Science Course for Nonmajors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Train, Tonya Laakko; Gammon, David E.

    2012-01-01

    Science Without Borders is a unique interdisciplinary science course that uses group and active-learning strategies and is in high demand among nonscience majors at a masters-level university. Registrar data showed that nonscience majors were far more likely to choose this course compared with other, discipline-based science courses. In an…

  17. Isomer Information from Ion Mobility Separation of High-Mannose Glycan Fragments.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Harvey, David J; Seabright, Gemma E; Vasiljevic, Snezana; Crispin, Max; Struwe, Weston B

    2018-05-01

    Extracted arrival time distributions of negative ion CID-derived fragments produced prior to traveling-wave ion mobility separation were evaluated for their ability to provide structural information on N-linked glycans. Fragmentation of high-mannose glycans released from several glycoproteins, including those from viral sources, provided over 50 fragments, many of which gave unique collisional cross-sections and provided additional information used to assign structural isomers. For example, cross-ring fragments arising from cleavage of the reducing terminal GlcNAc residue on Man 8 GlcNAc 2 isomers have unique collision cross-sections enabling isomers to be differentiated in mixtures. Specific fragment collision cross-sections enabled identification of glycans, the antennae of which terminated in the antigenic α-galactose residue, and ions defining the composition of the 6-antenna of several of the glycans were also found to have different cross-sections from isomeric ions produced in the same spectra. Potential mechanisms for the formation of the various ions are discussed and the estimated collisional cross-sections are tabulated. Graphical Abstract ᅟ.

  18. A unique tripartite collision tumor of the esophagus

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schizas, Dimitrios; Michalinos, Adamantios; Alexandrou, Paraskevi; Moris, Demetrios; Baliou, Evangelia; Tsilimigras, Diamantis; Throupis, Theodore; Liakakos, Theodore

    2017-01-01

    Abstract Rationale: We report a unique case of a tripartite esophageal collision tumor consisting of three separate histologic types. Patients concerns: Therapeutic dilemmas on the proper treatment of those rare neoplasms remain unanswered considering both proper surgical therapy and adjuvant therapy. Diagnose: In this paper, we report a unique case of a patient with a tripartite esophageal collision tumor consisting of a small cell carcinoma, an adenocarcinoma of medium differentiation and a signet ring cell carcinoma. Diagnosis is difficult as clinical presentation of the patient was undistinguishable from other, commoner tumor types. Interventions: The patient's diagnostic and therapeutic course along with available data on the collisions tumor's biological behavior and treatment are briefly discussed. Outcomes: Esophagectomy is the best treatment options for these patients. Unique nature of this tumor demands aggresive oncologic treatment. Lessons: Collision tumors are rare neoplasms consisting of distinct cell populations developing in juxtaposition to one another without any areas of intermingling. Various cell types can be found. However, collision neoplasms of the esophagus combining adenomatous and neuroendocrine components are exceedingly rare, with only 5 cases described to date in the literature. Given their rarity, limited information is available on their tumorigenesis, biological behavior and clinical course. In general, these tumors are aggressive neoplasms and significantly affect patient treatment and prognosis. PMID:29245236

  19. Modeling Rare and Unique Documents: Using FRBR[subscript OO]/CIDOC CRM

    Science.gov (United States)

    Le Boeuf, Patrick

    2012-01-01

    Both the library and the museum communities have developed conceptual models for the information they produce about the collections they hold: FRBR (Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records) and CIDOC CRM (Conceptual Reference Model). But neither proves perfectly adequate when it comes to some specific types of rare and unique materials:…

  20. Unique Outcomes in the Narratives of Young Adults Who Experienced Dating Violence as Adolescents.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Draucker, Claire Burke; Smith, Carolyn; Mazurczyk, Jill; Thomas, Destini; Ramirez, Patricia; McNealy, Kim; Thomas, Jade; Martsolf, Donna S

    2016-01-01

    Narrative therapy, an approach based on the reauthoring of life narratives, may be a useful psychotherapeutic strategy for youth who have experienced dating violence. A cornerstone of narrative therapy is the concept of unique outcomes, which are moments that stand in contrast to a client's otherwise problem-saturated narratives. The purpose of this study was to identify and categorize unique outcomes embedded in narratives about adolescent dating violence. Text units representing unique outcomes were extracted from transcripts of interviews with 88 young adults who had experienced dating violence and were categorized using standard content analytic techniques. Six categories of unique outcome stories were identified: facing-facts stories, standing-up-for-myself stories, cutting-it-off stories, cutting-'em-loose stories, getting-back-on-track stories, and changing-it-up stories. This typology of unique outcomes can inform clinicians who work with clients who have a history of adolescent dating violence. © The Author(s) 2015.

  1. The Information "Revolution": Information, Communications and Culture.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ostry, Bernard

    Today's communications systems and technology facilitate the erosion of cultural differences, threatening cultural sovereignty. In the fifteenth century, the first information revolution created the concept of the nation-state with its unique cultural identity. The technology of the second information revolution, which has advanced video…

  2. The influence of the chain and network information and communication structure on sustainable business development

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Bremmers, H.J.; Haverkamp, D.J.; Omta, S.W.F.

    2005-01-01

    This article links the public-private information and communication structure (IC-structure) and Ajzen¿s model of planned behaviour to explain the development of environmental management systems (EMSs). The structure of the IC-system, especially the public-private information exchange, can influence

  3. Description of the Structural Materials Information Center being established at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Oland, B.

    1990-01-01

    The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission has initiated a Structural aging Program at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory to identify potential structural safety issues related to continued service of nuclear power plants and to establish criteria for evaluating and resolving these issues. One of the tasks in this program focuses on the establishment of a Structural Materials Information Center where data and information on the time variation of concrete and concrete-related material properties under the influence of pertinent environmental stressors and aging factors will be collected and assembled into a database. This database will be used to assist in the prediction of potential long-term deterioration of critical structural components in nuclear power plants and to establish limits on hostile environmental exposure for these structures and materials. Materials property data and information will be collected at the Structural Materials Information Center from open literature, published references, and identifiable sources. Initially, the database will include portland cement concrete, metallic reinforcement, prestressing tendon and structural steel materials. Then, as data and information for other material systems are obtained, the database will be expanded and updated. The database will be developed and presented in two complementary formats. The Structural Materials Handbook will be published in four volumes as an expandable, hard copy handbook. The Materials Electronic Database will be developed to reflect the same information as contained in the handbook, but will be formatted for use on an IBM or IBM-compatible personal computer

  4. Unique properties of Drosophila spermatocyte primary cilia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Maria Giovanna Riparbelli

    2013-09-01

    The primary cilium is an essential organelle required for animal development and adult homeostasis that is found on most animal cells. The primary cilium contains a microtubule-based axoneme cytoskeleton that typically grows from the mother centriole in G0/G1 phase of the cell cycle as a membrane-bound compartment that protrudes from the cell surface. A unique system of bidirectional transport, intraflagellar transport (IFT, maintains the structure and function of cilia. While the axoneme is dynamic, growing and shrinking at its tip, at the same time it is very stable to the effects of microtubule-targeting drugs. The primary cilia found on Drosophila spermatocytes diverge from the general rules of primary cilium biology in several respects. Among these unique attributes, spermatocyte cilia assemble from all four centrioles in an IFT-independent manner in G2 phase, and persist continuously through two cell divisions. Here, we show that Drosophila spermatocyte primary cilia are extremely sensitive to microtubule-targeting drugs, unlike their mammalian counterparts. Spermatocyte cilia and their axonemes fail to assemble or be maintained upon nocodazole treatment, while centriole replication appears unperturbed. On the other hand, paclitaxel (Taxol, a microtubule-stabilizing drug, disrupted transition zone assembly and anchoring to the plasma membrane while causing spermatocyte primary cilia to grow extensively long during the assembly/elongation phase, but did not overtly affect the centrioles. However, once assembled to their mature length, spermatocyte cilia appeared unaffected by Taxol. The effects of these drugs on axoneme dynamics further demonstrate that spermatocyte primary cilia are endowed with unique assembly properties.

  5. Information structures in economics studies in the theory of markets with imperfect information

    CERN Document Server

    Nermuth, Manfred

    1982-01-01

    This book is intended as a contribution to the theory of markets with imperfect information. The subject being nearly limitless, only certain selected topics are discussed. These are outlined in the Introduction (Ch. 0). The remainder of the book is divided into three parts. All results of economic significance are contained in Parts II & III. Part I introduces the main tools for the analysis, in particular the concept of an information structure. Although most of the material presented in Part I is not original, it is hoped that the detailed and self-contained exposition will help the reader to understand not only the following pages, but also the existing technical and variegated literature on markets with imperfect information. The mathematical prerequisites needed, but not explained in the text rarely go beyond elementary calculus and probability theory. Whenever more advanced concepts are used, I have made an effort to give an intuitive explanation as well, so that the argument can also be followed o...

  6. Constructing the informatics and information technology foundations of a medical device evaluation system: a report from the FDA unique device identifier demonstration.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Drozda, Joseph P; Roach, James; Forsyth, Thomas; Helmering, Paul; Dummitt, Benjamin; Tcheng, James E

    2018-02-01

    The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has recognized the need to improve the tracking of medical device safety and performance, with implementation of Unique Device Identifiers (UDIs) in electronic health information as a key strategy. The FDA funded a demonstration by Mercy Health wherein prototype UDIs were incorporated into its electronic information systems. This report describes the demonstration's informatics architecture. Prototype UDIs for coronary stents were created and implemented across a series of information systems, resulting in UDI-associated data flow from manufacture through point of use to long-term follow-up, with barcode scanning linking clinical data with UDI-associated device attributes. A reference database containing device attributes and the UDI Research and Surveillance Database (UDIR) containing the linked clinical and device information were created, enabling longitudinal assessment of device performance. The demonstration included many stakeholders: multiple Mercy departments, manufacturers, health system partners, the FDA, professional societies, the National Cardiovascular Data Registry, and information system vendors. The resulting system of systems is described in detail, including entities, functions, linkage between the UDIR and proprietary systems using UDIs as the index key, data flow, roles and responsibilities of actors, and the UDIR data model. The demonstration provided proof of concept that UDIs can be incorporated into provider and enterprise electronic information systems and used as the index key to combine device and clinical data in a database useful for device evaluation. Keys to success and challenges to achieving this goal were identified. Fundamental informatics principles were central to accomplishing the system of systems model. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Medical Informatics Association. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com

  7. Cancer: Unique to Older Adults

    Science.gov (United States)

    ... A to Z › Cancer › Unique to Older Adults Font size A A A Print Share Glossary Unique ... group with other older people with the same type of cancer. Researchers have found that support groups ...

  8. Enhancing community detection by using local structural information

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Xiang, Ju; Bao, Mei-Hua; Tang, Liang; Li, Jian-Ming; Hu, Ke; Chen, Benyan; Hu, Jing-Bo; Zhang, Yan; Tang, Yan-Ni; Gao, Yuan-Yuan

    2016-01-01

    Many real-world networks, such as gene networks, protein–protein interaction networks and metabolic networks, exhibit community structures, meaning the existence of groups of densely connected vertices in the networks. Many local similarity measures in the networks are closely related to the concept of the community structures, and may have a positive effect on community detection in the networks. Here, various local similarity measures are used to extract local structural information, which is then applied to community detection in the networks by using the edge-reweighting strategy. The effect of the local similarity measures on community detection is carefully investigated and compared in various networks. The experimental results show that the local similarity measures are crucial for the improvement of community detection methods, while the positive effect of the local similarity measures is closely related to the networks under study and applied community detection methods. (paper: interdisciplinary statistical mechanics)

  9. Unique Information on a Seventeenth-Century Printing House in Arnhem

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    op t Hof, W.J.

    2013-01-01

    Having first briefly informed the reader on the life of the Puritan Arthur Hildersham (1563-1632), author of Fonteyne des levens, and of its Dutch translator, the Reformed Pietist Arnhem minister Daniel van Laren (b. 1585), and its Arnhem publisher Jacob van Biesen (d. 1677), this article deals in

  10. Unique sodium phosphosilicate glasses designed through extended topological constraint theory.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zeng, Huidan; Jiang, Qi; Liu, Zhao; Li, Xiang; Ren, Jing; Chen, Guorong; Liu, Fude; Peng, Shou

    2014-05-15

    Sodium phosphosilicate glasses exhibit unique properties with mixed network formers, and have various potential applications. However, proper understanding on the network structures and property-oriented methodology based on compositional changes are lacking. In this study, we have developed an extended topological constraint theory and applied it successfully to analyze the composition dependence of glass transition temperature (Tg) and hardness of sodium phosphosilicate glasses. It was found that the hardness and Tg of glasses do not always increase with the content of SiO2, and there exist maximum hardness and Tg at a certain content of SiO2. In particular, a unique glass (20Na2O-17SiO2-63P2O5) exhibits a low glass transition temperature (589 K) but still has relatively high hardness (4.42 GPa) mainly due to the high fraction of highly coordinated network former Si((6)). Because of its convenient forming and manufacturing, such kind of phosphosilicate glasses has a lot of valuable applications in optical fibers, optical amplifiers, biomaterials, and fuel cells. Also, such methodology can be applied to other types of phosphosilicate glasses with similar structures.

  11. An information integration system for structured documents, Web, and databases

    OpenAIRE

    Morishima, Atsuyuki

    1998-01-01

    Rapid advance in computer network technology has changed the style of computer utilization. Distributed computing resources over world-wide computer networks are available from our local computers. They include powerful computers and a variety of information sources. This change is raising more advanced requirements. Integration of distributed information sources is one of such requirements. In addition to conventional databases, structured documents have been widely used, and have increasing...

  12. Quantifying information transfer by protein domains: Analysis of the Fyn SH2 domain structure

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Serrano Luis

    2008-10-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Efficient communication between distant sites within a protein is essential for cooperative biological response. Although often associated with large allosteric movements, more subtle changes in protein dynamics can also induce long-range correlations. However, an appropriate formalism that directly relates protein structural dynamics to information exchange between functional sites is still lacking. Results Here we introduce a method to analyze protein dynamics within the framework of information theory and show that signal transduction within proteins can be considered as a particular instance of communication over a noisy channel. In particular, we analyze the conformational correlations between protein residues and apply the concept of mutual information to quantify information exchange. Mapping out changes of mutual information on the protein structure then allows visualizing how distal communication is achieved. We illustrate the approach by analyzing information transfer by the SH2 domain of Fyn tyrosine kinase, obtained from Monte Carlo dynamics simulations. Our analysis reveals that the Fyn SH2 domain forms a noisy communication channel that couples residues located in the phosphopeptide and specificity binding sites and a number of residues at the other side of the domain near the linkers that connect the SH2 domain to the SH3 and kinase domains. We find that for this particular domain, communication is affected by a series of contiguous residues that connect distal sites by crossing the core of the SH2 domain. Conclusion As a result, our method provides a means to directly map the exchange of biological information on the structure of protein domains, making it clear how binding triggers conformational changes in the protein structure. As such it provides a structural road, next to the existing attempts at sequence level, to predict long-range interactions within protein structures.

  13. Unique Aspects of Cryptochrome in Chronobiology and Metabolism, Pancreatic β-Cell Dysfunction, and Regeneration: Research into Cysteine414-Alanine Mutant CRY1

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Satoshi Okano

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Cryptochrome proteins (CRYs, which can bind noncovalently to cofactor (chromophore flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD, occur widely among organisms. CRYs play indispensable roles in the generation of circadian rhythm in mammals. Transgenic mice (Tg mice, ubiquitously expressing mouse CRY1 having a mutation in which cysteine414 (the zinc-binding site of CRY1 being replaced with alanine, display unique phenotypes in their circadian rhythms. Moreover, male Tg mice exhibit symptoms of diabetes characterized by beta-cell dysfunction, resembling human maturity onset diabetes of the young (MODY. The lowered proliferation of β-cells is a primary cause of age-dependent β-cell loss. Furthermore, unusually enlarged duct-like structures developed prominently in the Tg mice pancreases. The duct-like structures contained insulin-positive cells, suggesting neogenesis of β-cells in the Tg mice. This review, based mainly on the author’s investigation of the unique features of Tg mice, presents reported results and recent findings related to molecular processes associated with mammalian cryptochromes, especially their involvement in the regulation of metabolism. New information is described with emphasis on the aspects of islet architecture, pancreatic β-cell dysfunction, and regeneration.

  14. A unique binding mode enables MCM2 to chaperone histones H3-H4 at replication forks

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Huang, Hongda; Strømme, Caroline B; Saredi, Giulia

    2015-01-01

    During DNA replication, chromatin is reassembled by recycling of modified old histones and deposition of new ones. How histone dynamics integrates with DNA replication to maintain genome and epigenome information remains unclear. Here, we reveal how human MCM2, part of the replicative helicase......, chaperones histones H3-H4. Our first structure shows an H3-H4 tetramer bound by two MCM2 histone-binding domains (HBDs), which hijack interaction sites used by nucleosomal DNA. Our second structure reveals MCM2 and ASF1 cochaperoning an H3-H4 dimer. Mutational analyses show that the MCM2 HBD is required...... for MCM2-7 histone-chaperone function and normal cell proliferation. Further, we show that MCM2 can chaperone both new and old canonical histones H3-H4 as well as H3.3 and CENPA variants. The unique histone-binding mode of MCM2 thus endows the replicative helicase with ideal properties for recycling...

  15. A unique binding mode enables MCM2 to chaperone histones H3-H4 at replication forks.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huang, Hongda; Strømme, Caroline B; Saredi, Giulia; Hödl, Martina; Strandsby, Anne; González-Aguilera, Cristina; Chen, Shoudeng; Groth, Anja; Patel, Dinshaw J

    2015-08-01

    During DNA replication, chromatin is reassembled by recycling of modified old histones and deposition of new ones. How histone dynamics integrates with DNA replication to maintain genome and epigenome information remains unclear. Here, we reveal how human MCM2, part of the replicative helicase, chaperones histones H3-H4. Our first structure shows an H3-H4 tetramer bound by two MCM2 histone-binding domains (HBDs), which hijack interaction sites used by nucleosomal DNA. Our second structure reveals MCM2 and ASF1 cochaperoning an H3-H4 dimer. Mutational analyses show that the MCM2 HBD is required for MCM2-7 histone-chaperone function and normal cell proliferation. Further, we show that MCM2 can chaperone both new and old canonical histones H3-H4 as well as H3.3 and CENPA variants. The unique histone-binding mode of MCM2 thus endows the replicative helicase with ideal properties for recycling histones genome wide during DNA replication.

  16. Impact of Information Technology Governance Structures on Strategic Alignment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gordon, Fitzroy R.

    2013-01-01

    This dissertation is a study of the relationship between Information Technology (IT) strategic alignment and IT governance structure within the organization. This dissertation replicates Asante (2010) among a different population where the prior results continue to hold, the non-experimental approach explored two research questions but include two…

  17. An Informationally Structured Room for Robotic Assistance

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tokuo Tsuji

    2015-04-01

    Full Text Available The application of assistive technologies for elderly people is one of the most promising and interesting scenarios for intelligent technologies in the present and near future. Moreover, the improvement of the quality of life for the elderly is one of the first priorities in modern countries and societies. In this work, we present an informationally structured room that is aimed at supporting the daily life activities of elderly people. This room integrates different sensor modalities in a natural and non-invasive way inside the environment. The information gathered by the sensors is processed and sent to a centralized management system, which makes it available to a service robot assisting the people. One important restriction of our intelligent room is reducing as much as possible any interference with daily activities. Finally, this paper presents several experiments and situations using our intelligent environment in cooperation with our service robot.

  18. Ensuring the integrity of information resources based methods dvooznakovoho structural data encoding

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    О.К. Юдін

    2009-01-01

    Full Text Available  Developed methods of estimation of noise stability and correction of structural code constructions to distortion in comunication of data in informatively communication systems and networks taking into account providing of integrity of informative resource.

  19. Reinforcing Visual Grouping Cues to Communicate Complex Informational Structure.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bae, Juhee; Watson, Benjamin

    2014-12-01

    In his book Multimedia Learning [7], Richard Mayer asserts that viewers learn best from imagery that provides them with cues to help them organize new information into the correct knowledge structures. Designers have long been exploiting the Gestalt laws of visual grouping to deliver viewers those cues using visual hierarchy, often communicating structures much more complex than the simple organizations studied in psychological research. Unfortunately, designers are largely practical in their work, and have not paused to build a complex theory of structural communication. If we are to build a tool to help novices create effective and well structured visuals, we need a better understanding of how to create them. Our work takes a first step toward addressing this lack, studying how five of the many grouping cues (proximity, color similarity, common region, connectivity, and alignment) can be effectively combined to communicate structured text and imagery from real world examples. To measure the effectiveness of this structural communication, we applied a digital version of card sorting, a method widely used in anthropology and cognitive science to extract cognitive structures. We then used tree edit distance to measure the difference between perceived and communicated structures. Our most significant findings are: 1) with careful design, complex structure can be communicated clearly; 2) communicating complex structure is best done with multiple reinforcing grouping cues; 3) common region (use of containers such as boxes) is particularly effective at communicating structure; and 4) alignment is a weak structural communicator.

  20. A comparative approach for the investigation of biological information processing: An examination of the structure and function of computer hard drives and DNA

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    Background The robust storage, updating and utilization of information are necessary for the maintenance and perpetuation of dynamic systems. These systems can exist as constructs of metal-oxide semiconductors and silicon, as in a digital computer, or in the "wetware" of organic compounds, proteins and nucleic acids that make up biological organisms. We propose that there are essential functional properties of centralized information-processing systems; for digital computers these properties reside in the computer's hard drive, and for eukaryotic cells they are manifest in the DNA and associated structures. Methods Presented herein is a descriptive framework that compares DNA and its associated proteins and sub-nuclear structure with the structure and function of the computer hard drive. We identify four essential properties of information for a centralized storage and processing system: (1) orthogonal uniqueness, (2) low level formatting, (3) high level formatting and (4) translation of stored to usable form. The corresponding aspects of the DNA complex and a computer hard drive are categorized using this classification. This is intended to demonstrate a functional equivalence between the components of the two systems, and thus the systems themselves. Results Both the DNA complex and the computer hard drive contain components that fulfill the essential properties of a centralized information storage and processing system. The functional equivalence of these components provides insight into both the design process of engineered systems and the evolved solutions addressing similar system requirements. However, there are points where the comparison breaks down, particularly when there are externally imposed information-organizing structures on the computer hard drive. A specific example of this is the imposition of the File Allocation Table (FAT) during high level formatting of the computer hard drive and the subsequent loading of an operating system (OS). Biological

  1. A comparative approach for the investigation of biological information processing: an examination of the structure and function of computer hard drives and DNA.

    Science.gov (United States)

    D'Onofrio, David J; An, Gary

    2010-01-21

    The robust storage, updating and utilization of information are necessary for the maintenance and perpetuation of dynamic systems. These systems can exist as constructs of metal-oxide semiconductors and silicon, as in a digital computer, or in the "wetware" of organic compounds, proteins and nucleic acids that make up biological organisms. We propose that there are essential functional properties of centralized information-processing systems; for digital computers these properties reside in the computer's hard drive, and for eukaryotic cells they are manifest in the DNA and associated structures. Presented herein is a descriptive framework that compares DNA and its associated proteins and sub-nuclear structure with the structure and function of the computer hard drive. We identify four essential properties of information for a centralized storage and processing system: (1) orthogonal uniqueness, (2) low level formatting, (3) high level formatting and (4) translation of stored to usable form. The corresponding aspects of the DNA complex and a computer hard drive are categorized using this classification. This is intended to demonstrate a functional equivalence between the components of the two systems, and thus the systems themselves. Both the DNA complex and the computer hard drive contain components that fulfill the essential properties of a centralized information storage and processing system. The functional equivalence of these components provides insight into both the design process of engineered systems and the evolved solutions addressing similar system requirements. However, there are points where the comparison breaks down, particularly when there are externally imposed information-organizing structures on the computer hard drive. A specific example of this is the imposition of the File Allocation Table (FAT) during high level formatting of the computer hard drive and the subsequent loading of an operating system (OS). Biological systems do not have an

  2. A comparative approach for the investigation of biological information processing: An examination of the structure and function of computer hard drives and DNA

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    D'Onofrio David J

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background The robust storage, updating and utilization of information are necessary for the maintenance and perpetuation of dynamic systems. These systems can exist as constructs of metal-oxide semiconductors and silicon, as in a digital computer, or in the "wetware" of organic compounds, proteins and nucleic acids that make up biological organisms. We propose that there are essential functional properties of centralized information-processing systems; for digital computers these properties reside in the computer's hard drive, and for eukaryotic cells they are manifest in the DNA and associated structures. Methods Presented herein is a descriptive framework that compares DNA and its associated proteins and sub-nuclear structure with the structure and function of the computer hard drive. We identify four essential properties of information for a centralized storage and processing system: (1 orthogonal uniqueness, (2 low level formatting, (3 high level formatting and (4 translation of stored to usable form. The corresponding aspects of the DNA complex and a computer hard drive are categorized using this classification. This is intended to demonstrate a functional equivalence between the components of the two systems, and thus the systems themselves. Results Both the DNA complex and the computer hard drive contain components that fulfill the essential properties of a centralized information storage and processing system. The functional equivalence of these components provides insight into both the design process of engineered systems and the evolved solutions addressing similar system requirements. However, there are points where the comparison breaks down, particularly when there are externally imposed information-organizing structures on the computer hard drive. A specific example of this is the imposition of the File Allocation Table (FAT during high level formatting of the computer hard drive and the subsequent loading of an operating

  3. Unique identification code for medical fundus images using blood vessel pattern for tele-ophthalmology applications.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Singh, Anushikha; Dutta, Malay Kishore; Sharma, Dilip Kumar

    2016-10-01

    Identification of fundus images during transmission and storage in database for tele-ophthalmology applications is an important issue in modern era. The proposed work presents a novel accurate method for generation of unique identification code for identification of fundus images for tele-ophthalmology applications and storage in databases. Unlike existing methods of steganography and watermarking, this method does not tamper the medical image as nothing is embedded in this approach and there is no loss of medical information. Strategic combination of unique blood vessel pattern and patient ID is considered for generation of unique identification code for the digital fundus images. Segmented blood vessel pattern near the optic disc is strategically combined with patient ID for generation of a unique identification code for the image. The proposed method of medical image identification is tested on the publically available DRIVE and MESSIDOR database of fundus image and results are encouraging. Experimental results indicate the uniqueness of identification code and lossless recovery of patient identity from unique identification code for integrity verification of fundus images. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  4. Uniqueness in time measurement

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lorenzen, P.

    1981-01-01

    According to P. Janich a clock is defined as an apparatus in which a point ( hand ) is moving uniformly on a straight line ( path ). For the definition of uniformly first the scaling (as a constant ratio of velocities) is defined without clocks. Thereafter the uniqueness of the time measurement can be proved using the prove of scaling of all clocks. But the uniqueness can be defined without scaling, as it is pointed out here. (orig.) [de

  5. The Generalization of Mutual Information as the Information between a Set of Variables: The Information Correlation Function Hierarchy and the Information Structure of Multi-Agent Systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wolf, David R.

    2004-01-01

    The topic of this paper is a hierarchy of information-like functions, here named the information correlation functions, where each function of the hierarchy may be thought of as the information between the variables it depends upon. The information correlation functions are particularly suited to the description of the emergence of complex behaviors due to many- body or many-agent processes. They are particularly well suited to the quantification of the decomposition of the information carried among a set of variables or agents, and its subsets. In more graphical language, they provide the information theoretic basis for understanding the synergistic and non-synergistic components of a system, and as such should serve as a forceful toolkit for the analysis of the complexity structure of complex many agent systems. The information correlation functions are the natural generalization to an arbitrary number of sets of variables of the sequence starting with the entropy function (one set of variables) and the mutual information function (two sets). We start by describing the traditional measures of information (entropy) and mutual information.

  6. Inferring the Clonal Structure of Viral Populations from Time Series Sequencing.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Donatien F Chedom

    2015-11-01

    Full Text Available RNA virus populations will undergo processes of mutation and selection resulting in a mixed population of viral particles. High throughput sequencing of a viral population subsequently contains a mixed signal of the underlying clones. We would like to identify the underlying evolutionary structures. We utilize two sources of information to attempt this; within segment linkage information, and mutation prevalence. We demonstrate that clone haplotypes, their prevalence, and maximum parsimony reticulate evolutionary structures can be identified, although the solutions may not be unique, even for complete sets of information. This is applied to a chain of influenza infection, where we infer evolutionary structures, including reassortment, and demonstrate some of the difficulties of interpretation that arise from deep sequencing due to artifacts such as template switching during PCR amplification.

  7. Evaluating the impact of investments in information technology on structural inertia in health organizations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bewley, Lee W

    2010-01-01

    Structural inertia is the overall capacity of an organization to adapt within a market environment. This paper reviews the impact of healthcare investments in information management/information technology (IM/IT) on the strategic management concept of structural inertia. Research indicates that healthcare executives should consider the relative state of structural inertia for their firms and match them with potential IM/IT solutions. Additionally, organizations should favorably consider IM/IT solutions that are comparatively less complex.

  8. Phytoestrogens and Mycoestrogens Induce Signature Structure Dynamics Changes on Estrogen Receptor α

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xueyan Chen

    2016-08-01

    Full Text Available Endocrine disrupters include a broad spectrum of chemicals such as industrial chemicals, natural estrogens and androgens, synthetic estrogens and androgens. Phytoestrogens are widely present in diet and food supplements; mycoestrogens are frequently found in grains. As human beings and animals are commonly exposed to phytoestrogens and mycoestrogens in diet and environment, it is important to understand the potential beneficial or hazardous effects of estrogenic compounds. Many bioassays have been established to study the binding of estrogenic compounds with estrogen receptor (ER and provided rich data in the literature. However, limited assays can offer structure information with regard to the ligand/ER complex. Our current study surveys the global structure dynamics changes for ERα ligand binding domain (LBD when phytoestrogens and mycoestrogens bind. The assay is based on the structure dynamics information probed by hydrogen deuterium exchange mass spectrometry and offers a unique viewpoint to elucidate the mechanism how phytoestrogens and mycoestrogens interact with estrogen receptor. The cluster analysis based on the hydrogen deuterium exchange (HDX assay data reveals a unique pattern when phytoestrogens and mycoestrogens bind with ERα LBD compared to that of estradiol and synthetic estrogen modulators. Our study highlights that structure dynamics could play an important role in the structure function relationship when endocrine disrupters interact with estrogen receptors.

  9. How Investor Structure Influences the Yield, Information Dissemination Efficiency, and Liquidity

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hongli Che

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available This essay focuses on the investor structure of the stock index futures market and uses agent-based computational finance method to discuss how the volume-synchronized probability of informed trading (VPIN affects market absolute yield, information dissemination efficiency, and liquidity with different ratios of informed traders in the market. The result shows that the higher the proportion of informed traders is, the more the volatility of the market is. Furthermore, the result indicates that when the proportion of informed traders in the stock index futures market accounts for 1/3-1/2, the transparency and liquidity of the market will be better.

  10. 10 CFR 50.69 - Risk-informed categorization and treatment of structures, systems and components for nuclear...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ..., systems and components for nuclear power reactors. (a) Definitions. Risk-Informed Safety Class (RISC)-1... functions. Risk-Informed Safety Class (RISC)-2 structures, systems and components (SSCs) means nonsafety-related SSCs that perform safety significant functions. Risk-Informed Safety Class (RISC)-3 structures...

  11. Modularity, comparative cognition and human uniqueness.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shettleworth, Sara J

    2012-10-05

    Darwin's claim 'that the difference in mind between man and the higher animals … is certainly one of degree and not of kind' is at the core of the comparative study of cognition. Recent research provides unprecedented support for Darwin's claim as well as new reasons to question it, stimulating new theories of human cognitive uniqueness. This article compares and evaluates approaches to such theories. Some prominent theories propose sweeping domain-general characterizations of the difference in cognitive capabilities and/or mechanisms between adult humans and other animals. Dual-process theories for some cognitive domains propose that adult human cognition shares simple basic processes with that of other animals while additionally including slower-developing and more explicit uniquely human processes. These theories are consistent with a modular account of cognition and the 'core knowledge' account of children's cognitive development. A complementary proposal is that human infants have unique social and/or cognitive adaptations for uniquely human learning. A view of human cognitive architecture as a mosaic of unique and species-general modular and domain-general processes together with a focus on uniquely human developmental mechanisms is consistent with modern evolutionary-developmental biology and suggests new questions for comparative research.

  12. Dissociative absorption: An empirically unique, clinically relevant, dissociative factor.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Soffer-Dudek, Nirit; Lassri, Dana; Soffer-Dudek, Nir; Shahar, Golan

    2015-11-01

    Research of dissociative absorption has raised two questions: (a) Is absorption a unique dissociative factor within a three-factor structure, or a part of one general dissociative factor? Even when three factors are found, the specificity of the absorption factor is questionable. (b) Is absorption implicated in psychopathology? Although commonly viewed as "non-clinical" dissociation, absorption was recently hypothesized to be specifically associated with obsessive-compulsive symptoms. To address these questions, we conducted exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses on 679 undergraduates. Analyses supported the three-factor model, and a "purified" absorption scale was extracted from the original inclusive absorption factor. The purified scale predicted several psychopathology scales. As hypothesized, absorption was a stronger predictor of obsessive-compulsive symptoms than of general psychopathology. In addition, absorption was the only dissociative scale that longitudinally predicted obsessive-compulsive symptoms. We conclude that absorption is a unique and clinically relevant dissociative tendency that is particularly meaningful to obsessive-compulsive symptoms. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  13. Automated extraction of chemical structure information from digital raster images

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shedden Kerby A

    2009-02-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background To search for chemical structures in research articles, diagrams or text representing molecules need to be translated to a standard chemical file format compatible with cheminformatic search engines. Nevertheless, chemical information contained in research articles is often referenced as analog diagrams of chemical structures embedded in digital raster images. To automate analog-to-digital conversion of chemical structure diagrams in scientific research articles, several software systems have been developed. But their algorithmic performance and utility in cheminformatic research have not been investigated. Results This paper aims to provide critical reviews for these systems and also report our recent development of ChemReader – a fully automated tool for extracting chemical structure diagrams in research articles and converting them into standard, searchable chemical file formats. Basic algorithms for recognizing lines and letters representing bonds and atoms in chemical structure diagrams can be independently run in sequence from a graphical user interface-and the algorithm parameters can be readily changed-to facilitate additional development specifically tailored to a chemical database annotation scheme. Compared with existing software programs such as OSRA, Kekule, and CLiDE, our results indicate that ChemReader outperforms other software systems on several sets of sample images from diverse sources in terms of the rate of correct outputs and the accuracy on extracting molecular substructure patterns. Conclusion The availability of ChemReader as a cheminformatic tool for extracting chemical structure information from digital raster images allows research and development groups to enrich their chemical structure databases by annotating the entries with published research articles. Based on its stable performance and high accuracy, ChemReader may be sufficiently accurate for annotating the chemical database with links

  14. Structure of the first representative of Pfam family PF04016 (DUF364) reveals enolase and Rossmann-like folds that combine to form a unique active site with a possible role in heavy-metal chelation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Miller, Mitchell D.; Aravind, L.; Bakolitsa, Constantina; Rife, Christopher L.; Carlton, Dennis; Abdubek, Polat; Astakhova, Tamara; Axelrod, Herbert L.; Chiu, Hsiu-Ju; Clayton, Thomas; Deller, Marc C.; Duan, Lian; Feuerhelm, Julie; Grant, Joanna C.; Han, Gye Won; Jaroszewski, Lukasz; Jin, Kevin K.; Klock, Heath E.; Knuth, Mark W.; Kozbial, Piotr; Krishna, S. Sri; Kumar, Abhinav; Marciano, David; McMullan, Daniel; Morse, Andrew T.; Nigoghossian, Edward; Okach, Linda; Reyes, Ron; Bedem, Henry van den; Weekes, Dana; Xu, Qingping; Hodgson, Keith O.; Wooley, John; Elsliger, Marc-André; Deacon, Ashley M.; Godzik, Adam; Lesley, Scott A.; Wilson, Ian A.

    2010-01-01

    The crystal structure of the first representative of DUF364 family reveals a combination of enolase N-terminal-like and C-terminal Rossmann-like folds. Analysis of the interdomain cleft combined with sequence and genome context conservation among homologs, suggests a unique catalytic site likely involved in the synthesis of a flavin or pterin derivative. The crystal structure of Dhaf4260 from Desulfitobacterium hafniense DCB-2 was determined by single-wavelength anomalous diffraction (SAD) to a resolution of 2.01 Å using the semi-automated high-throughput pipeline of the Joint Center for Structural Genomics (JCSG) as part of the NIGMS Protein Structure Initiative (PSI). This protein structure is the first representative of the PF04016 (DUF364) Pfam family and reveals a novel combination of two well known domains (an enolase N-terminal-like fold followed by a Rossmann-like domain). Structural and bioinformatic analyses reveal partial similarities to Rossmann-like methyltransferases, with residues from the enolase-like fold combining to form a unique active site that is likely to be involved in the condensation or hydrolysis of molecules implicated in the synthesis of flavins, pterins or other siderophores. The genome context of Dhaf4260 and homologs additionally supports a role in heavy-metal chelation

  15. "Information in Context": Co-Designing Workplace Structures and Systems for Organizational Learning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Somerville, Mary M.; Howard, Zaana

    2010-01-01

    Introduction: This paper discusses an "information in context" design project at Auraria Library in Denver, Colorado which aims to collaboratively create organizational structures and communication systems with and for library employees. Method: This action research project is founded within shared leadership, informed learning and…

  16. Encoding information into precipitation structures

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Martens, Kirsten; Bena, Ioana; Droz, Michel; Rácz, Zoltan

    2008-01-01

    Material design at submicron scales would be profoundly affected if the formation of precipitation patterns could be easily controlled. It would allow the direct building of bulk structures, in contrast to traditional techniques which consist of removing material in order to create patterns. Here, we discuss an extension of our recent proposal of using electrical currents to control precipitation bands which emerge in the wake of reaction fronts in A + + B – → C reaction–diffusion processes. Our main result, based on simulating the reaction–diffusion–precipitation equations, is that the dynamics of the charged agents can be guided by an appropriately designed time-dependent electric current so that, in addition to the control of the band spacing, the width of the precipitation bands can also be tuned. This makes straightforward the encoding of information into precipitation patterns and, as an amusing example, we demonstrate the feasibility by showing how to encode a musical rhythm

  17. Full information estimations of a system of simultaneous equations with error component structure

    OpenAIRE

    Balestra, Pietro; Krishnakumar, Jaya

    1987-01-01

    In this paper we develop full information methods for estimating the parameters of a system of simultaneous equations with error component struc-ture and establish relationships between the various structural estimat

  18. An information offering system for operation support based on plant functional structure

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ohga, Yukiharu; Seki, Hiroshi

    1995-01-01

    A plant information offering system was proposed to support operators in their selection and confirmation of the required information for plant operation under transient conditions in nuclear power plants. The system features include an automatic selection method for information and a dialog input method. The former selects plant information in response to plant status changes and operators' demands. The selection is performed based on the knowledge and data as structured by the plant functional structure; i.e. a means-ends abstraction hierarchy model. In the latter, both speech and CRT touch inputs are transformed into words in Japanese to realize an arbitrary input mode combination. The words are analyzed as a sentence before transforming them into a demand for related programs. A prototype system was evaluated using a BWR simulator, assuming abnormal transients such as loss of feedwater. The contents of the offered information were checked based on emergency operation guidelines. It was confirmed that appropriate information items are automatically selected in real time. Answers are generated in reply to the operators' demands. They include information added to reflect the plant conditions. As for dialog, simple and quick input is realized by combining speech and CRT touch according to the operating situation. (author)

  19. The association between need for touch and desire for unique products and consumer (interdependent problem-solving

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Valter Afonso Vieira

    2013-09-01

    Full Text Available Some people cannot buy products without first touching them, believing that doing so will create more assurance and information and reduce uncertainty. The international consumer marketing literature suggests an instrument to measure consumers' necessity for pohysical contact, called Need for Touch (NFT. This paper analyzes whether the Need for Touch structure is empirically consistent. Based on a literature review, we suggest six hypotheses in order to assess the nomological, convergent, and discriminant validity of the phenomenon. Departing from these, data supported four assumptions in the predicted direction. Need for Touch was associated with Need for Input and with Need for Cognition. Need for Touch was not associated with traditional marketing channels. The results also showed the dual characterization of Need for Touch as a bi-dimensional construct. The moderator effect indicated that when the consumer has a higher (vs. lower Need for Touch autotelic score, the experiential motivation for shopping played a more (vs. less important role in impulsive motivation. Our Study 3 supports the NFT structure and shows new associations with the need for unique products and dependent decisions.

  20. A High-Resolution Crystal Structure of a Psychrohalophilic α-Carbonic Anhydrase from Photobacterium profundum Reveals a Unique Dimer Interface.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vijayakumar Somalinga

    Full Text Available Bacterial α-carbonic anhydrases (α-CA are zinc containing metalloenzymes that catalyze the rapid interconversion of CO2 to bicarbonate and a proton. We report the first crystal structure of a pyschrohalophilic α-CA from a deep-sea bacterium, Photobacterium profundum. Size exclusion chromatography of the purified P. profundum α-CA (PprCA reveals that the protein is a heterogeneous mix of monomers and dimers. Furthermore, an "in-gel" carbonic anhydrase activity assay, also known as protonography, revealed two distinct bands corresponding to monomeric and dimeric forms of PprCA that are catalytically active. The crystal structure of PprCA was determined in its native form and reveals a highly conserved "knot-topology" that is characteristic of α-CA's. Similar to other bacterial α-CA's, PprCA also crystallized as a dimer. Furthermore, dimer interface analysis revealed the presence of a chloride ion (Cl- in the interface which is unique to PprCA and has not been observed in any other α-CA's characterized so far. Molecular dynamics simulation and chloride ion occupancy analysis shows 100% occupancy for the Cl- ion in the dimer interface. Zinc coordinating triple histidine residues, substrate binding hydrophobic patch residues, and the hydrophilic proton wire residues are highly conserved in PprCA and are identical to other well-studied α-CA's.

  1. Unique relations among anxiety sensitivity factors and anxiety, depression, and suicidal ideation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Allan, Nicholas P; Capron, Daniel W; Raines, Amanda M; Schmidt, Norman B

    2014-03-01

    Anxiety sensitivity (AS) is composed of three lower-order dimensions, cognitive concerns, physical concerns, and social concerns. We examined the relations between AS dimensions using a more adequate assessment of subscales (ASI-3) than has previously been used, and measures of anxiety and mood disorders as well as suicidal ideation in a sample of 256 (M age = 37.10 years, SD = 16.40) treatment-seeking individuals using structural equation modeling. AS cognitive concerns was uniquely associated with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), major depressive disorder (MDD), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and suicidal ideation. AS physical concerns was uniquely associated with OCD, social anxiety disorder (SAD), panic disorder (PD), and specific phobia. AS social concerns was uniquely associated with SAD, GAD, OCD, and MDD. These results highlight the importance of considering the lower-order AS dimensions when examining the relations between AS and psychopathology. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  2. Reconstructing Information in Large-Scale Structure via Logarithmic Mapping

    Science.gov (United States)

    Szapudi, Istvan

    We propose to develop a new method to extract information from large-scale structure data combining two-point statistics and non-linear transformations; before, this information was available only with substantially more complex higher-order statistical methods. Initially, most of the cosmological information in large-scale structure lies in two-point statistics. With non- linear evolution, some of that useful information leaks into higher-order statistics. The PI and group has shown in a series of theoretical investigations how that leakage occurs, and explained the Fisher information plateau at smaller scales. This plateau means that even as more modes are added to the measurement of the power spectrum, the total cumulative information (loosely speaking the inverse errorbar) is not increasing. Recently we have shown in Neyrinck et al. (2009, 2010) that a logarithmic (and a related Gaussianization or Box-Cox) transformation on the non-linear Dark Matter or galaxy field reconstructs a surprisingly large fraction of this missing Fisher information of the initial conditions. This was predicted by the earlier wave mechanical formulation of gravitational dynamics by Szapudi & Kaiser (2003). The present proposal is focused on working out the theoretical underpinning of the method to a point that it can be used in practice to analyze data. In particular, one needs to deal with the usual real-life issues of galaxy surveys, such as complex geometry, discrete sam- pling (Poisson or sub-Poisson noise), bias (linear, or non-linear, deterministic, or stochastic), redshift distortions, pro jection effects for 2D samples, and the effects of photometric redshift errors. We will develop methods for weak lensing and Sunyaev-Zeldovich power spectra as well, the latter specifically targetting Planck. In addition, we plan to investigate the question of residual higher- order information after the non-linear mapping, and possible applications for cosmology. Our aim will be to work out

  3. Understanding `galaxy groups' as a unique structure in the universe

    Science.gov (United States)

    Paul, S.; John, R. S.; Gupta, P.; Kumar, H.

    2017-10-01

    'Galaxy groups' have hardly been realized as a separate class of objects with specific characteristics in the structural hierarchy. The presumption that the self-similarity of dark matter structures is a valid prescription for the baryonic universe at all scales has rendered smaller structures undetectable by current observational facilities, leading to lesser dedicated studies on them. Some recent reports that indicate a deviation from LX-T scaling in groups compared to clusters have motivated us to study their physical properties in depth. In this article, we report the extensive study on physical properties of groups in comparison to the clusters through cosmological hydrodynamic plus N-body simulations using enzo 2.2 code. As additional physics, radiative cooling, heating due to supernova and star motions, star formation and stellar feedback have been implemented. We have produced a mock sample of 362 objects with mass ranging from 5 × 1012 M⊙ to 2.5 × 1015 M⊙. Strikingly, we have found that objects with mass below ˜8 × 1013 M⊙ do not follow any of the cluster self-similar laws in hydrostatics, not even in thermal and non-thermal energies. Two distinct scaling laws are observed to be followed with breaks at ˜8 × 1013 M⊙ for mass, ˜1 keV for temperature and ˜1 Mpc for radius. This places groups as a distinct entity in the hierarchical structures, well demarcated from clusters. This study reveals that groups are mostly far away from virialization, suggesting the need for formulating new models for deciphering their physical parameters. They are also shown to have high turbulence and more non-thermal energy stored, indicating better visibility in the non-thermal regime.

  4. Understanding 'Galaxy Groups' as a Unique Structure in the Universe

    Science.gov (United States)

    John, Reju Sam; Paul, Surajit; Gupta, Prateek; Kumar, Harish

    2017-07-01

    'Galaxy groups' have hardly been realized as a separate class of objects with specific characteristics in the structural hierarchy of the universe. The presumption that the self-similarity of dark matter structures is a valid prescription for the baryonic universe also at all scales has rendered smaller structures undetectable by current observational facilities, leading to lesser dedicated studies on them. Some recent reports on deviation of {L_x}-T scaling in groups from that of clusters have motivated us to study their physical properties in depth. In this article, we report the extensive study on physical properties of groups in comparison with clusters through cosmological hydrodynamic plus N-body simulations using ENZO 2.2 code. We have included cooling and heating physics and star formation feedback in the simulation. And produced a mock sample of 362 objects with mass ranging from 5×10^{12} M_{⊙} to 2.5×10^{15} M_{⊙}. Strikingly, we have found that objects with a mass below ˜ 8×10^{13} M_{⊙} do not follow any of the cluster self-similar laws in hydrostatics, not even in thermal and non-thermal regimes. Two distinct scaling laws are observed to be followed with breaks at ˜ 6-8× 10^{13} M_{⊙} for mass, ˜1 keV for temperature and ˜1 Mpc for radius. This places groups as a distinct entity in the hierarchical structures, well demarcated from clusters. This study reveals that groups are mostly far away from virialization, suggesting the need for formulating new models for deciphering their physical parameters. They are also shown to have high turbulence and more non-thermal energy stored, indicating better visibility in the non-thermal regime.

  5. 75 FR 68809 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Importation Bond Structure

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-11-09

    ... DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY U.S. Customs And Border Protection Agency Information Collection Activities: Importation Bond Structure AGENCY: U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Department of Homeland... collection: 1651-0050. SUMMARY: U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) of the Department of Homeland...

  6. From structure of the complex to understanding of the biology

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Rossmann, Michael G., E-mail: mr@purdue.edu [Department of Biological Sciences, Purdue University, 915 West State Street, West Lafayette, IN 47907-2054 (United States); Arisaka, Fumio [Graduate School and School of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Tokyo Institute of Technology, 5249 Nagatsuta-cho, Yokohama 226-8501-B39 (Japan); Battisti, Anthony J.; Bowman, Valorie D.; Chipman, Paul R.; Fokine, Andrei; Hafenstein, Susan [Department of Biological Sciences, Purdue University, 915 West State Street, West Lafayette, IN 47907-2054 (United States); Kanamaru, Shuji [Department of Biological Sciences, Purdue University, 915 West State Street, West Lafayette, IN 47907-2054 (United States); Graduate School and School of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Tokyo Institute of Technology, 5249 Nagatsuta-cho, Yokohama 226-8501-B39 (Japan); Kostyuchenko, Victor A. [Department of Biological Sciences, Purdue University, 915 West State Street, West Lafayette, IN 47907-2054 (United States); Mesyanzhinov, Vadim V.; Shneider, Mikhail M. [Laboratory of Molecular Bioengineering, Shemyakin-Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, 16/10 Miklukho-Maklaya Street, Moscow, 117997 (Russian Federation); Morais, Marc C.; Leiman, Petr G. [Department of Biological Sciences, Purdue University, 915 West State Street, West Lafayette, IN 47907-2054 (United States); Palermo, Laura M.; Parrish, Colin R. [James A. Baker Institute, College of Veterinary Medicine, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853 (United States); Xiao, Chuan [Department of Biological Sciences, Purdue University, 915 West State Street, West Lafayette, IN 47907-2054 (United States)

    2007-01-01

    The most extensive structural information on viruses relates to apparently icosahedral virions and is based on X-ray crystallography and on cryo-electron microscopy single-particle reconstructions. This paper concerns itself with the study of the macromolecular complexes that constitute viruses, using structural hybrid techniques. The most extensive structural information on viruses relates to apparently icosahedral virions and is based on X-ray crystallography and on cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) single-particle reconstructions. Both techniques lean heavily on imposing icosahedral symmetry, thereby obscuring any deviation from the assumed symmetry. However, tailed bacteriophages have icosahedral or prolate icosahedral heads that have one obvious unique vertex where the genome can enter for DNA packaging and exit when infecting a host cell. The presence of the tail allows cryo-EM reconstructions in which the special vertex is used to orient the head in a unique manner. Some very large dsDNA icosahedral viruses also develop special vertices thought to be required for infecting host cells. Similarly, preliminary cryo-EM data for the small ssDNA canine parvovirus complexed with receptor suggests that these viruses, previously considered to be accurately icosahedral, might have some asymmetric properties that generate one preferred receptor-binding site on the viral surface. Comparisons are made between rhinoviruses that bind receptor molecules uniformly to all 60 equivalent binding sites, canine parvovirus, which appears to have a preferred receptor-binding site, and bacteriophage T4, which gains major biological advantages on account of its unique vertex and tail organelle.

  7. From structure of the complex to understanding of the biology

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rossmann, Michael G.; Arisaka, Fumio; Battisti, Anthony J.; Bowman, Valorie D.; Chipman, Paul R.; Fokine, Andrei; Hafenstein, Susan; Kanamaru, Shuji; Kostyuchenko, Victor A.; Mesyanzhinov, Vadim V.; Shneider, Mikhail M.; Morais, Marc C.; Leiman, Petr G.; Palermo, Laura M.; Parrish, Colin R.; Xiao, Chuan

    2007-01-01

    The most extensive structural information on viruses relates to apparently icosahedral virions and is based on X-ray crystallography and on cryo-electron microscopy single-particle reconstructions. This paper concerns itself with the study of the macromolecular complexes that constitute viruses, using structural hybrid techniques. The most extensive structural information on viruses relates to apparently icosahedral virions and is based on X-ray crystallography and on cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) single-particle reconstructions. Both techniques lean heavily on imposing icosahedral symmetry, thereby obscuring any deviation from the assumed symmetry. However, tailed bacteriophages have icosahedral or prolate icosahedral heads that have one obvious unique vertex where the genome can enter for DNA packaging and exit when infecting a host cell. The presence of the tail allows cryo-EM reconstructions in which the special vertex is used to orient the head in a unique manner. Some very large dsDNA icosahedral viruses also develop special vertices thought to be required for infecting host cells. Similarly, preliminary cryo-EM data for the small ssDNA canine parvovirus complexed with receptor suggests that these viruses, previously considered to be accurately icosahedral, might have some asymmetric properties that generate one preferred receptor-binding site on the viral surface. Comparisons are made between rhinoviruses that bind receptor molecules uniformly to all 60 equivalent binding sites, canine parvovirus, which appears to have a preferred receptor-binding site, and bacteriophage T4, which gains major biological advantages on account of its unique vertex and tail organelle

  8. [NASA/DOD Aerospace Knowledge Diffusion Research Project. Paper 18:] Scientific and Technical Information (STI) policy and the competitive position of the US aerospace industry

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hernon, Peter; Pinelli, Thomas E.

    1992-01-01

    With its contribution to trade, its coupling with national security, and its symbolism of U.S. technological strength, the U.S. aerospace industry holds a unique position in the Nation's industrial structure. Federal science and technology policy and Federal scientific and technical information (STI) policy loom important as strategic contributions to the U.S. aerospace industry's leading competitive position. However, three fundamental policy problems exist. First, the United States lacks a coherent STI policy and a unified approach to the development of such a policy. Second, policymakers fail to understand the relationship of STI to science and technology policy. Third, STI is treated as a part of general information policy, without any recognition of its uniqueness. This paper provides an overview of the Federal information policy structure as it relates to STI and frames the policy issues that require resolution.

  9. NASA/DOD Aerospace Knowledge Diffusion Research Project. Paper 18: Scientific and Technical Information (STI) policy and the competitive position of the US aerospace industry

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hernon, Peter; Pinelli, Thomas E.

    1992-01-01

    With its contribution to trade, its coupling with national security, and its symbolism of U.S. technological strength, the U.S. aerospace industry holds a unique position in the Nation's industrial structure. Federal science and technology policy and Federal scientific and technical information (STI) policy loom important as strategic contributions to the U.S. aerospace industry's leading competitive position. However, three fundamental policy problems exist. First, the United States lacks a coherent STI policy and a unified approach to the development of such a policy. Second, policymakers fail to understand the relationship of STI to science and technology policy. Third, STI is treated as a part of general information policy, without any recognition of its uniqueness. This paper provides an overview of the Federal information policy structure as it relates to STI and frames the policy issues that require resolution.

  10. Systematizing Web Search through a Meta-Cognitive, Systems-Based, Information Structuring Model (McSIS)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abuhamdieh, Ayman H.; Harder, Joseph T.

    2015-01-01

    This paper proposes a meta-cognitive, systems-based, information structuring model (McSIS) to systematize online information search behavior based on literature review of information-seeking models. The General Systems Theory's (GST) prepositions serve as its framework. Factors influencing information-seekers, such as the individual learning…

  11. Computer Simulation of Atoms Nuclei Structure Using Information Coefficients of Proportionality

    OpenAIRE

    Labushev, Mikhail M.

    2012-01-01

    The latest research of the proportionality of atomic weights of chemical elements made it possible to obtain 3 x 3 matrices for the calculation of information coefficients of proportionality Ip that can be used for 3D modeling of the structure of atom nucleus. The results of computer simulation show high potential of nucleus structure research for the characterization of their chemical and physical properties.

  12. Cardiac contractility structure-activity relationship and ligand-receptor interactions; the discovery of unique and novel molecular switches in myosuppressin signaling.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Megan Leander

    Full Text Available Peptidergic signaling regulates cardiac contractility; thus, identifying molecular switches, ligand-receptor contacts, and antagonists aids in exploring the underlying mechanisms to influence health. Myosuppressin (MS, a decapeptide, diminishes cardiac contractility and gut motility. Myosuppressin binds to G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR proteins. Two Drosophila melanogaster myosuppressin receptors (DrmMS-Rs exist; however, no mechanism underlying MS-R activation is reported. We predicted DrmMS-Rs contained molecular switches that resembled those of Rhodopsin. Additionally, we believed DrmMS-DrmMS-R1 and DrmMS-DrmMS-R2 interactions would reflect our structure-activity relationship (SAR data. We hypothesized agonist- and antagonist-receptor contacts would differ from one another depending on activity. Lastly, we expected our study to apply to other species; we tested this hypothesis in Rhodnius prolixus, the Chagas disease vector. Searching DrmMS-Rs for molecular switches led to the discovery of a unique ionic lock and a novel 3-6 lock, as well as transmission and tyrosine toggle switches. The DrmMS-DrmMS-R1 and DrmMS-DrmMS-R2 contacts suggested tissue-specific signaling existed, which was in line with our SAR data. We identified R. prolixus (RhpMS-R and discovered it, too, contained the unique myosuppressin ionic lock and novel 3-6 lock found in DrmMS-Rs as well as transmission and tyrosine toggle switches. Further, these motifs were present in red flour beetle, common water flea, honey bee, domestic silkworm, and termite MS-Rs. RhpMS and DrmMS decreased R. prolixus cardiac contractility dose dependently with EC50 values of 140 nM and 50 nM. Based on ligand-receptor contacts, we designed RhpMS analogs believed to be an active core and antagonist; testing on heart confirmed these predictions. The active core docking mimicked RhpMS, however, the antagonist did not. Together, these data were consistent with the unique ionic lock, novel 3-6 lock

  13. Probing Protein Structure and Folding in the Gas Phase by Electron Capture Dissociation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schennach, Moritz; Breuker, Kathrin

    2015-07-01

    The established methods for the study of atom-detailed protein structure in the condensed phases, X-ray crystallography and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, have recently been complemented by new techniques by which nearly or fully desolvated protein structures are probed in gas-phase experiments. Electron capture dissociation (ECD) is unique among these as it provides residue-specific, although indirect, structural information. In this Critical Insight article, we discuss the development of ECD for the structural probing of gaseous protein ions, its potential, and limitations.

  14. IPAD: A unique approach to government/industry cooperation for technology development and transfer

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fulton, Robert E.; Salley, George C.

    1985-01-01

    A key element to improved industry productivity is effective management of Computer Aided Design / Computer Aided Manufacturing (CAD/CAM) information. To stimulate advancement, a unique joint government/industry project designated Integrated Programs for Aerospace-Vehicle Design (IPAD) was carried out from 1971 to 1984. The goal was to raise aerospace industry productivity through advancement of computer based technology to integrate and manage information involved in the design and manufacturing process. IPAD research was guided by an Industry Technical Advisory Board (ITAB) composed of over 100 representatives from aerospace and computer companies. The project complemented traditional NASA/DOD research to develop aerospace design technology and the Air Force's Integrated Computer Aided Manufacturing (ICAM) program to advance CAM technology. IPAD had unprecedented industry support and involvement and served as a unique approach to government industry cooperation in the development and transfer of advanced technology. The IPAD project background, approach, accomplishments, industry involvement, technology transfer mechanisms and lessons learned are summarized.

  15. Computational topology and the Unique Games Conjecture

    OpenAIRE

    Grochow, Joshua A.; Tucker-Foltz, Jamie

    2018-01-01

    Covering spaces of graphs have long been useful for studying expanders (as "graph lifts") and unique games (as the "label-extended graph"). In this paper we advocate for the thesis that there is a much deeper relationship between computational topology and the Unique Games Conjecture. Our starting point is Linial's 2005 observation that the only known problems whose inapproximability is equivalent to the Unique Games Conjecture - Unique Games and Max-2Lin - are instances of Maximum Section of...

  16. Critique of information geometry

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Skilling, John

    2014-01-01

    As applied to probability, information geometry fails because probability distributions do not form a metric space. Probability theory rests on a compelling foundation of elementary symmetries, which also support information (aka minus entropy, Kullback-Leibler) H(p;q) as the unique measure of divergence from source probability distribution q to destination p. Because the only compatible connective H is from≠to asymmetric, H(p;q)≠H(q;p), there can be no compatible geometrical distance (which would necessarily be from=to symmetric). Hence there is no distance relationship compatible with the structure of probability theory. Metrics g and densities sqrt(det(g)) interpreted as prior probabilities follow from the definition of distance, and must fail likewise. Various metrics and corresponding priors have been proposed, Fisher's being the most popular, but all must behave unacceptably. This is illustrated with simple counter-examples

  17. Touch and You’re Trapp(cked: Quantifying the Uniqueness of Touch Gestures for Tracking

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Masood Rahat

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available We argue that touch-based gestures on touch-screen devices enable the threat of a form of persistent and ubiquitous tracking which we call touch-based tracking. Touch-based tracking goes beyond the tracking of virtual identities and has the potential for cross-device tracking as well as identifying multiple users using the same device. We demonstrate the likelihood of touch-based tracking by focusing on touch gestures widely used to interact with touch devices such as swipes and taps.. Our objective is to quantify and measure the information carried by touch-based gestures which may lead to tracking users. For this purpose, we develop an information theoretic method that measures the amount of information about users leaked by gestures when modelled as feature vectors. Our methodology allows us to evaluate the information leaked by individual features of gestures, samples of gestures, as well as samples of combinations of gestures. Through our purpose-built app, called TouchTrack, we gather gesture samples from 89 users, and demonstrate that touch gestures contain sufficient information to uniquely identify and track users. Our results show that writing samples (on a touch pad can reveal 73.7% of information (when measured in bits, and left swipes can reveal up to 68.6% of information. Combining different combinations of gestures results in higher uniqueness, with the combination of keystrokes, swipes and writing revealing up to 98.5% of information about users. We further show that, through our methodology, we can correctly re-identify returning users with a success rate of more than 90%.

  18. On the accuracy, uniqueness and implication of dimensionless accidental relations between fundamental constants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bahran, M.; Univ. of Oklahoma, Norman-OK,

    2002-01-01

    Ibrahim et al(1) found an accidental formula relating the gravitational coupling constant, the electromagnetic fine structure constant and the proton to electron mass ratio. This work comments on such relation, in particular it studies the accuracy, uniqueness and unification implication of such accidental relation.(author)

  19. PROGRAM SYSTEM AND INFORMATION METADATA BANK OF TERTIARY PROTEIN STRUCTURES

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    T. A. Nikitin

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available The article deals with the architecture of metadata storage model for check results of three-dimensional protein structures. Concept database model was built. The service and procedure of database update as well as data transformation algorithms for protein structures and their quality were presented. Most important information about entries and their submission forms to store, access, and delivery to users were highlighted. Software suite was developed for the implementation of functional tasks using Java programming language in the NetBeans v.7.0 environment and JQL to query and interact with the database JavaDB. The service was tested and results have shown system effectiveness while protein structures filtration.

  20. Unique Action of Interleukin-18 on T Cells and Other Immune Cells

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kenji Nakanishi

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available Interleukin (IL-18 was originally discovered as a factor that enhances interferon (IFN-γ production by anti-CD3-stimulated Th1 cells, particularly in association with IL-12. IL-12 is a cytokine that induces development of Th1 cells. IL-18 cannot induce Th1 cell development, but has the capacity to activate established Th1 cells to produce IFN-γ in the presence of IL-12. Thus, IL-18 is regarded as a proinflammatory cytokine that facilitates type 1 responses. However, in the absence of IL-12 but presence of IL-2, IL-18 stimulates natural killer cells, NKT cells, and even established Th1 cells to produce IL-3, IL-9, and IL-13. Thus, IL-18 also facilitates type 2 responses. This unique function of IL-18 contributes to infection-associated allergic diseases. Together with IL-3, IL-18 stimulates mast cells and basophils to produce IL-4, IL-13, and chemical mediators such as histamine. Thus, IL-18 also induces innate-type allergic inflammation. IL-18 belongs to the IL-1 family of cytokines, which share similar molecular structures, receptors structures, and signal transduction pathways. Nevertheless, IL-18 shows a unique function by binding to a specific receptor expressed on distinct types of cells. In this review article, I will focus on the unique features of IL-18 in lymphocytes, basophils, and mast cells, particularly in comparison with IL-33.

  1. Deriving Structural Information from Experimentally Measured Data on Biomolecules.

    Science.gov (United States)

    van Gunsteren, Wilfred F; Allison, Jane R; Daura, Xavier; Dolenc, Jožica; Hansen, Niels; Mark, Alan E; Oostenbrink, Chris; Rusu, Victor H; Smith, Lorna J

    2016-12-23

    During the past half century, the number and accuracy of experimental techniques that can deliver values of observables for biomolecular systems have been steadily increasing. The conversion of a measured value Q exp of an observable quantity Q into structural information is, however, a task beset with theoretical and practical problems: 1) insufficient or inaccurate values of Q exp , 2) inaccuracies in the function Q(r→) used to relate the quantity Q to structure r→ , 3) how to account for the averaging inherent in the measurement of Q exp , 4) how to handle the possible multiple-valuedness of the inverse r→(Q) of the function Q(r→) , to mention a few. These apply to a variety of observable quantities Q and measurement techniques such as X-ray and neutron diffraction, small-angle and wide-angle X-ray scattering, free-electron laser imaging, cryo-electron microscopy, nuclear magnetic resonance, electron paramagnetic resonance, infrared and Raman spectroscopy, circular dichroism, Förster resonance energy transfer, atomic force microscopy and ion-mobility mass spectrometry. The process of deriving structural information from measured data is reviewed with an eye to non-experts and newcomers in the field using examples from the literature of the effect of the various choices and approximations involved in the process. A list of choices to be avoided is provided. © 2016 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  2. Resistance and Security Index of Networks: Structural Information Perspective of Network Security.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Angsheng; Hu, Qifu; Liu, Jun; Pan, Yicheng

    2016-06-03

    Recently, Li and Pan defined the metric of the K-dimensional structure entropy of a structured noisy dataset G to be the information that controls the formation of the K-dimensional structure of G that is evolved by the rules, order and laws of G, excluding the random variations that occur in G. Here, we propose the notion of resistance of networks based on the one- and two-dimensional structural information of graphs. Given a graph G, we define the resistance of G, written , as the greatest overall number of bits required to determine the code of the module that is accessible via random walks with stationary distribution in G, from which the random walks cannot escape. We show that the resistance of networks follows the resistance law of networks, that is, for a network G, the resistance of G is , where and are the one- and two-dimensional structure entropies of G, respectively. Based on the resistance law, we define the security index of a network G to be the normalised resistance of G, that is, . We show that the resistance and security index are both well-defined measures for the security of the networks.

  3. Resistance and Security Index of Networks: Structural Information Perspective of Network Security

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Angsheng; Hu, Qifu; Liu, Jun; Pan, Yicheng

    2016-01-01

    Recently, Li and Pan defined the metric of the K-dimensional structure entropy of a structured noisy dataset G to be the information that controls the formation of the K-dimensional structure of G that is evolved by the rules, order and laws of G, excluding the random variations that occur in G. Here, we propose the notion of resistance of networks based on the one- and two-dimensional structural information of graphs. Given a graph G, we define the resistance of G, written , as the greatest overall number of bits required to determine the code of the module that is accessible via random walks with stationary distribution in G, from which the random walks cannot escape. We show that the resistance of networks follows the resistance law of networks, that is, for a network G, the resistance of G is , where and are the one- and two-dimensional structure entropies of G, respectively. Based on the resistance law, we define the security index of a network G to be the normalised resistance of G, that is, . We show that the resistance and security index are both well-defined measures for the security of the networks. PMID:27255783

  4. Resistance and Security Index of Networks: Structural Information Perspective of Network Security

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Angsheng; Hu, Qifu; Liu, Jun; Pan, Yicheng

    2016-06-01

    Recently, Li and Pan defined the metric of the K-dimensional structure entropy of a structured noisy dataset G to be the information that controls the formation of the K-dimensional structure of G that is evolved by the rules, order and laws of G, excluding the random variations that occur in G. Here, we propose the notion of resistance of networks based on the one- and two-dimensional structural information of graphs. Given a graph G, we define the resistance of G, written , as the greatest overall number of bits required to determine the code of the module that is accessible via random walks with stationary distribution in G, from which the random walks cannot escape. We show that the resistance of networks follows the resistance law of networks, that is, for a network G, the resistance of G is , where and are the one- and two-dimensional structure entropies of G, respectively. Based on the resistance law, we define the security index of a network G to be the normalised resistance of G, that is, . We show that the resistance and security index are both well-defined measures for the security of the networks.

  5. Information structure and reference tracking in complex sentences

    CERN Document Server

    Gijn, Rik van; Matic, Dejan

    2014-01-01

    This paper discusses argument marking and reference tracking in Mekens complex clauses and their correlation to information structure. The distribution of pronominal arguments in Mekens simple clauses follows an absolutive pattern with main verbs. Complex clauses maintain the morphological absolutive argument marking, but show a nominative pattern with respect to argument reference tracking, since transitive and intransitive subjects function as syntactic pivots. The language extends the use of argument-marking verb morphology to control the reference of discourse participants across clauses.

  6. Micro-nano hierarchically structured nylon 6,6 surfaces with unique wettability.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Liang; Zhang, Xiaoyan; Dai, Zhen; Wu, Junjie; Zhao, Ning; Xu, Jian

    2010-05-01

    A micro-nano hierarchically structured nylon 6,6 surface was easily fabricated by phase separation. Nylon 6,6 plate was swelled by formic acid and then immersed in a coagulate bath to precipitate. Micro particles with nano protrusions were generated and linked together covering over the surface. After dried up, the as-formed surface showed superhydrophilic ability. Inspired by lotus only employing 2-tier structure and ordinary plant wax to maintain superhydrophobicity, paraffin wax, a low surface energy material, was used to modify the hierarchically structured nylon 6,6 surface. The resultant surface had water contact angle (CA) of 155.2+/-1.3 degrees and a low sliding angle. The whole process was carried on under ambient condition and only need a few minutes. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  7. Structural characterization of a unique marine animal family 7 cellobiohydrolase suggests a mechanism of cellulase salt tolerance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kern, Marcelo; McGeehan, John E; Streeter, Simon D; Martin, Richard N A; Besser, Katrin; Elias, Luisa; Eborall, Will; Malyon, Graham P; Payne, Christina M; Himmel, Michael E; Schnorr, Kirk; Beckham, Gregg T; Cragg, Simon M; Bruce, Neil C; McQueen-Mason, Simon J

    2013-06-18

    Nature uses a diversity of glycoside hydrolase (GH) enzymes to convert polysaccharides to sugars. As lignocellulosic biomass deconstruction for biofuel production remains costly, natural GH diversity offers a starting point for developing industrial enzymes, and fungal GH family 7 (GH7) cellobiohydrolases, in particular, provide significant hydrolytic potential in industrial mixtures. Recently, GH7 enzymes have been found in other kingdoms of life besides fungi, including in animals and protists. Here, we describe the in vivo spatial expression distribution, properties, and structure of a unique endogenous GH7 cellulase from an animal, the marine wood borer Limnoria quadripunctata (LqCel7B). RT-quantitative PCR and Western blot studies show that LqCel7B is expressed in the hepatopancreas and secreted into the gut for wood degradation. We produced recombinant LqCel7B, with which we demonstrate that LqCel7B is a cellobiohydrolase and obtained four high-resolution crystal structures. Based on a crystallographic and computational comparison of LqCel7B to the well-characterized Hypocrea jecorina GH7 cellobiohydrolase, LqCel7B exhibits an extended substrate-binding motif at the tunnel entrance, which may aid in substrate acquisition and processivity. Interestingly, LqCel7B exhibits striking surface charges relative to fungal GH7 enzymes, which likely results from evolution in marine environments. We demonstrate that LqCel7B stability and activity remain unchanged, or increase at high salt concentration, and that the L. quadripunctata GH mixture generally contains cellulolytic enzymes with highly acidic surface charge compared with enzymes derived from terrestrial microbes. Overall, this study suggests that marine cellulases offer significant potential for utilization in high-solids industrial biomass conversion processes.

  8. MIMS - MEDICAL INFORMATION MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

    Science.gov (United States)

    Frankowski, J. W.

    1994-01-01

    MIMS, Medical Information Management System is an interactive, general purpose information storage and retrieval system. It was first designed to be used in medical data management, and can be used to handle all aspects of data related to patient care. Other areas of application for MIMS include: managing occupational safety data in the public and private sectors; handling judicial information where speed and accuracy are high priorities; systemizing purchasing and procurement systems; and analyzing organizational cost structures. Because of its free format design, MIMS can offer immediate assistance where manipulation of large data bases is required. File structures, data categories, field lengths and formats, including alphabetic and/or numeric, are all user defined. The user can quickly and efficiently extract, display, and analyze the data. Three means of extracting data are provided: certain short items of information, such as social security numbers, can be used to uniquely identify each record for quick access; records can be selected which match conditions defined by the user; and specific categories of data can be selected. Data may be displayed and analyzed in several ways which include: generating tabular information assembled from comparison of all the records on the system; generating statistical information on numeric data such as means, standard deviations and standard errors; and displaying formatted listings of output data. The MIMS program is written in Microsoft FORTRAN-77. It was designed to operate on IBM Personal Computers and compatibles running under PC or MS DOS 2.00 or higher. MIMS was developed in 1987.

  9. Value of information: A roadmap to quantifying the benefit of structural health monitoring

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Straub, D.; Chatzi, E.; Bismut, E.

    2017-01-01

    The concept of value of information (VoI) enables quantification of the benefits provided by structural health monitoring (SHM) systems – in principle. Its implementation is challenging, as it requires an explicit modelling of the structural system’s life cycle, in particular of the decisions...... that are taken based on the SHM information. In this paper, we approach the VoI analysis through an influence diagram (ID), which supports the modelling process. We provide a simple example for illustration and discuss challenges associated with real-life implementation....

  10. Structured information analysis for human reliability analysis of emergency tasks in nuclear power plants

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Jung, Won Dea; Kim, Jae Whan; Park, Jin Kyun; Ha, Jae Joo [Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Taejeon (Korea)

    2000-02-01

    More than twenty HRA (Human Reliability Analysis) methodologies have been developed and used for the safety analysis in nuclear field during the past two decades. However, no methodology appears to have universally been accepted, as various limitations have been raised for more widely used ones. One of the most important limitations of conventional HRA is insufficient analysis of the task structure and problem space. To resolve this problem, we suggest SIA (Structured Information Analysis) for HRA. The proposed SIA consists of three parts. The first part is the scenario analysis that investigates the contextual information related to the given task on the basis of selected scenarios. The second is the goals-means analysis to define the relations between the cognitive goal and task steps. The third is the cognitive function analysis module that identifies the cognitive patterns and information flows involved in the task. Through the three-part analysis, systematic investigation is made possible from the macroscopic information on the tasks to the microscopic information on the specific cognitive processes. It is expected that analysts can attain a structured set of information that helps to predict the types and possibility of human error in the given task. 48 refs., 12 figs., 11 tabs. (Author)

  11. Neutron scattering applications in structural biology: now and the future

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Trewhella, J [Los Alamos National Lab., NM (United States)

    1996-05-01

    Neutrons have an important role to play in structural biology. Neutron crystallography, small-angle neutron scattering and inelastic neutron scattering techniques all contribute unique information on biomolecular structures. In particular, solution scattering techniques give critical information on the conformations and dispositions of the components of complex assemblies under a wide variety of relevant conditions. The power of these methods is demonstrated here by studies of protein/DNA complexes, and Ca{sup 2+}-binding proteins complexed with their regulatory targets. In addition, we demonstrate the utility of a new structural approach using neutron resonance scattering. The impact of biological neutron scattering to date has been constrained principally by the available fluxes at neutron sources and the true potential of these approaches will only be realized with the development of new more powerful neutron sources. (author)

  12. Heart Failure: Unique to Older Adults

    Science.gov (United States)

    ... to Z › Heart Failure › Unique to Older Adults Font size A A A Print Share Glossary Unique ... will suffer from depression at some point. This type of severe depression is more serious than the ...

  13. 11Li structural information from inclusive break-up measurements

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fernández-García J. P.

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Structure information of 11Li halo nucleus has been obtained from the inclusive break-up measurements of the 11Li+208Pb reactions at energies around the Coulomb barrier (Elab = 24.3 and 29.8 MeV. The effective break-up energy and the slope of B(E1 distribution close to the threshold have been extracted from the experimental data.

  14. Matrix structure for information-driven polarimeter design

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alenin, Andrey S.

    Estimating the polarization of light has been shown to have merit in a wide variety of applications between UV and LWIR wavelengths. These tasks include target identification, estimation of atmospheric aerosol properties, biomedical and other applications. In all of these applications, polarization sensing has been shown to assist in discrimination ability; however, due to the nature of many phenomena, it is difficult to add polarization sensing everywhere. The goal of this dissertation is to decrease the associated penalties of using polarimetry, and thereby broaden its applicability to other areas. First, the class of channeled polarimeter systems is generalized to relate the Fourier domains of applied modulations to the resulting information channels. The quality of reconstruction is maximized by virtue of using linear system manipulations rather than arithmetic derived by hand, while revealing system properties that allow for immediate performance estimation. Besides identifying optimal systems in terms of equally weighted variance (EWV), a way to redistribute the error between all the information channels is presented. The result of this development often leads to superficial changes that can improve signal-to-noise-ration (SNR) by up to a factor of three compared to existing designs in the literature. Second, the class of partial Mueller maitrx polarimeters (pMMPs) is inspected in regards to their capacity to match the level of discrimination performance achieved by full systems. The concepts of structured decomposition and the reconstructables matrix are developed to provide insight into Mueller subspace coverage of pMMPs, while yielding a pMMP basis that allows the formation of ten classes of pMMP systems. A method for evaluating such systems while considering a multi-objective optimization of noise resilience and space coverage is provided. An example is presented for which the number of measurements was reduced to half. Third, the novel developments

  15. Unique structure of iC3b resolved at a resolution of 24 Å by 3D-electron microscopy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alcorlo, Martin; Martínez-Barricarte, Ruben; Fernández, Francisco J; Rodríguez-Gallego, César; Round, Adam; Vega, M Cristina; Harris, Claire L; de Cordoba, Santiago Rodríguez; Llorca, Oscar

    2011-08-09

    Activation of C3, deposition of C3b on the target surface, and subsequent amplification by formation of a C3-cleaving enzyme (C3-convertase; C3bBb) triggers the effector functions of complement that result in inflammation and cell lysis. Concurrently, surface-bound C3b is proteolyzed to iC3b by factor I and appropriate cofactors. iC3b then interacts with the complement receptors (CR) of the Ig superfamily, CR2 (CD21), CR3 (CD11b/CD18), and CR4 (CD11c/CD18) on leukocytes, down-modulating inflammation, enhancing B cell-mediated immunity, and targeting pathogens for clearance by phagocytosis. Using EM and small-angle X-ray scattering, we now present a medium-resolution structure of iC3b (24 Å). iC3b displays a unique conformation with structural features distinct from any other C3 fragment. The macroglobulin ring in iC3b is similar to that in C3b, whereas the TED (thioester-containing domain) domain and the remnants of the CUB (complement protein subcomponents C1r/C1s, urchin embryonic growth factor and bone morphogenetic protein 1) domain have moved to locations more similar to where they were in native C3. A consequence of this large conformational change is the disruption of the factor B binding site, which renders iC3b unable to assemble a C3-convertase. This structural model also justifies the decreased interaction between iC3b and complement regulators and the recognition of iC3b by the CR of the Ig superfamily, CR2, CR3, and CR4. These data further illustrate the extraordinary conformational versatility of C3 to accommodate a great diversity of functional activities.

  16. Dirac fields in flat FLRW cosmology: Uniqueness of the Fock quantization

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Cortez, Jerónimo, E-mail: jacq@ciencias.unam.mx [Departamento de Física, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, México D.F. 04510 (Mexico); Elizaga Navascués, Beatriz, E-mail: beatriz.elizaga@iem.cfmac.csic.es [Instituto de Estructura de la Materia, IEM-CSIC, Serrano 121, 28006 Madrid (Spain); Martín-Benito, Mercedes, E-mail: m.martin@hef.ru.nl [Radboud University Nijmegen, Institute for Mathematics, Astrophysics and Particle Physics, Heyendaalseweg 135, NL-6525 AJ Nijmegen (Netherlands); Mena Marugán, Guillermo A., E-mail: mena@iem.cfmac.csic.es [Instituto de Estructura de la Materia, IEM-CSIC, Serrano 121, 28006 Madrid (Spain); Velhinho, José M., E-mail: jvelhi@ubi.pt [Universidade da Beira Interior, Rua Marquês d’Ávila e Bolama, 6201-001, Covilhã (Portugal)

    2017-01-15

    We address the issue of the infinite ambiguity that affects the construction of a Fock quantization of a Dirac field propagating in a cosmological spacetime with flat compact sections. In particular, we discuss a physical criterion that restricts to a unique possibility (up to unitary equivalence) the infinite set of available vacua. We prove that this desired uniqueness is guaranteed, for any possible choice of spin structure on the spatial sections, if we impose two conditions. The first one is that the symmetries of the classical system must be implemented quantum mechanically, so that the vacuum is invariant under the symmetry transformations. The second and more important condition is that the constructed theory must have a quantum dynamics that is implementable as a (non-trivial) unitary operator in Fock space. Actually, this unitarity of the quantum dynamics leads us to identify as explicitly time dependent some very specific contributions of the Dirac field. In doing that, we essentially characterize the part of the dynamics governed by the Dirac equation that is unitarily implementable. The uniqueness of the Fock vacuum is attained then once a physically motivated convention for the concepts of particles and antiparticles is fixed.

  17. Dirac fields in flat FLRW cosmology: Uniqueness of the Fock quantization

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cortez, Jerónimo; Elizaga Navascués, Beatriz; Martín-Benito, Mercedes; Mena Marugán, Guillermo A.; Velhinho, José M.

    2017-01-01

    We address the issue of the infinite ambiguity that affects the construction of a Fock quantization of a Dirac field propagating in a cosmological spacetime with flat compact sections. In particular, we discuss a physical criterion that restricts to a unique possibility (up to unitary equivalence) the infinite set of available vacua. We prove that this desired uniqueness is guaranteed, for any possible choice of spin structure on the spatial sections, if we impose two conditions. The first one is that the symmetries of the classical system must be implemented quantum mechanically, so that the vacuum is invariant under the symmetry transformations. The second and more important condition is that the constructed theory must have a quantum dynamics that is implementable as a (non-trivial) unitary operator in Fock space. Actually, this unitarity of the quantum dynamics leads us to identify as explicitly time dependent some very specific contributions of the Dirac field. In doing that, we essentially characterize the part of the dynamics governed by the Dirac equation that is unitarily implementable. The uniqueness of the Fock vacuum is attained then once a physically motivated convention for the concepts of particles and antiparticles is fixed.

  18. DRUMS: a human disease related unique gene mutation search engine.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Zuofeng; Liu, Xingnan; Wen, Jingran; Xu, Ye; Zhao, Xin; Li, Xuan; Liu, Lei; Zhang, Xiaoyan

    2011-10-01

    With the completion of the human genome project and the development of new methods for gene variant detection, the integration of mutation data and its phenotypic consequences has become more important than ever. Among all available resources, locus-specific databases (LSDBs) curate one or more specific genes' mutation data along with high-quality phenotypes. Although some genotype-phenotype data from LSDB have been integrated into central databases little effort has been made to integrate all these data by a search engine approach. In this work, we have developed disease related unique gene mutation search engine (DRUMS), a search engine for human disease related unique gene mutation as a convenient tool for biologists or physicians to retrieve gene variant and related phenotype information. Gene variant and phenotype information were stored in a gene-centred relational database. Moreover, the relationships between mutations and diseases were indexed by the uniform resource identifier from LSDB, or another central database. By querying DRUMS, users can access the most popular mutation databases under one interface. DRUMS could be treated as a domain specific search engine. By using web crawling, indexing, and searching technologies, it provides a competitively efficient interface for searching and retrieving mutation data and their relationships to diseases. The present system is freely accessible at http://www.scbit.org/glif/new/drums/index.html. © 2011 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

  19. Unmanned Aerial Vehicles unique cost estimating requirements

    Science.gov (United States)

    Malone, P.; Apgar, H.; Stukes, S.; Sterk, S.

    Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), also referred to as drones, are aerial platforms that fly without a human pilot onboard. UAVs are controlled autonomously by a computer in the vehicle or under the remote control of a pilot stationed at a fixed ground location. There are a wide variety of drone shapes, sizes, configurations, complexities, and characteristics. Use of these devices by the Department of Defense (DoD), NASA, civil and commercial organizations continues to grow. UAVs are commonly used for intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance (ISR). They are also use for combat operations, and civil applications, such as firefighting, non-military security work, surveillance of infrastructure (e.g. pipelines, power lines and country borders). UAVs are often preferred for missions that require sustained persistence (over 4 hours in duration), or are “ too dangerous, dull or dirty” for manned aircraft. Moreover, they can offer significant acquisition and operations cost savings over traditional manned aircraft. Because of these unique characteristics and missions, UAV estimates require some unique estimating methods. This paper describes a framework for estimating UAV systems total ownership cost including hardware components, software design, and operations. The challenge of collecting data, testing the sensitivities of cost drivers, and creating cost estimating relationships (CERs) for each key work breakdown structure (WBS) element is discussed. The autonomous operation of UAVs is especially challenging from a software perspective.

  20. Unique interconnected graphene/SnO2 nanoparticle spherical multilayers for lithium-ion battery applications.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shao, Qingguo; Tang, Jie; Sun, Yige; Li, Jing; Zhang, Kun; Yuan, Jinshi; Zhu, Da-Ming; Qin, Lu-Chang

    2017-03-30

    We have designed and synthesized a unique structured graphene/SnO 2 composite, where SnO 2 nanoparticles are inserted in between interconnected graphene sheets which form hollow spherical multilayers. The hollow spherical multilayered structure provides much flexibility to accommodate the configuration and volume changes of SnO 2 in the material. When it is used as an anode material for lithium-ion batteries, such a novel nanostructure can not only provide a stable conductive matrix and suppress the mechanical stress, but also eliminate the need of any binders for constructing electrodes. Electrochemical tests show that the unique graphene/SnO 2 composite electrode as designed could exhibit a large reversible capacity over 1000 mA h g -1 and long cycling life with 88% retention after 100 cycles. These results indicate the great potential of the composite for being used as a high performance anode material for lithium-ion batteries.

  1. The Transparency of Reporting Information as a Guarantee to the Sustainable Development of Corporate Structures

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ivchenko Viktoriia V.

    2017-05-01

    Full Text Available In the article, the author substantiates the view that one of the problematic aspects of the modern corporate reporting model is its low transparency, imperfection of the methods for generating indicators, which in turn does not allow for a comprehensive analysis of the activity of corporate structure. As a possible variant to improve the existing reporting model, it has been suggested to consider the basic concepts of sustainable development when disclosing information. In this context, corporate structures should also disclose the social and environmental aspects for a wide range of users – stakeholders. In the process of research, direct correlation between the transparency of banking information and the achievement of sustainable development has been substantiated; cautions regarding the asymmetry in information of banking institutions have been considered. Directions for further scientific research could be a study on the two-way communication system between the corporate structure and users of information; developing an integrated system of assessments of transparency and its impact on the sustainable development of corporate structure.

  2. Stochastic and information-thermodynamic structures of population dynamics in a fluctuating environment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kobayashi, Tetsuya J.; Sughiyama, Yuki

    2017-07-01

    Adaptation in a fluctuating environment is a process of fueling environmental information to gain fitness. Living systems have gradually developed strategies for adaptation from random and passive diversification of the phenotype to more proactive decision making, in which environmental information is sensed and exploited more actively and effectively. Understanding the fundamental relation between fitness and information is therefore crucial to clarify the limits and universal properties of adaptation. In this work, we elucidate the underlying stochastic and information-thermodynamic structure in this process, by deriving causal fluctuation relations (FRs) of fitness and information. Combined with a duality between phenotypic and environmental dynamics, the FRs reveal the limit of fitness gain, the relation of time reversibility with the achievability of the limit, and the possibility and condition for gaining excess fitness due to environmental fluctuation. The loss of fitness due to causal constraints and the limited capacity of real organisms is shown to be the difference between time-forward and time-backward path probabilities of phenotypic and environmental dynamics. Furthermore, the FRs generalize the concept of the evolutionary stable state (ESS) for fluctuating environment by giving the probability that the optimal strategy on average can be invaded by a suboptimal one owing to rare environmental fluctuation. These results clarify the information-thermodynamic structures in adaptation and evolution.

  3. University Students' Knowledge Structures and Informal Reasoning on the Use of Genetically Modified Foods: Multidimensional Analyses

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wu, Ying-Tien

    2013-10-01

    This study aims to provide insights into the role of learners' knowledge structures about a socio-scientific issue (SSI) in their informal reasoning on the issue. A total of 42 non-science major university students' knowledge structures and informal reasoning were assessed with multidimensional analyses. With both qualitative and quantitative analyses, this study revealed that those students with more extended and better-organized knowledge structures, as well as those who more frequently used higher-order information processing modes, were more oriented towards achieving a higher-level informal reasoning quality. The regression analyses further showed that the "richness" of the students' knowledge structures explained 25 % of the variation in their rebuttal construction, an important indicator of reasoning quality, indicating the significance of the role of students' sophisticated knowledge structure in SSI reasoning. Besides, this study also provides some initial evidence for the significant role of the "core" concept within one's knowledge structure in one's SSI reasoning. The findings in this study suggest that, in SSI-based instruction, science instructors should try to identify students' core concepts within their prior knowledge regarding the SSI, and then they should try to guide students to construct and structure relevant concepts or ideas regarding the SSI based on their core concepts. Thus, students could obtain extended and well-organized knowledge structures, which would then help them achieve better learning transfer in dealing with SSIs.

  4. Observing the Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation: A Unique Window on the Early Universe

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hinshaw, Gary; Fisher, Richard R. (Technical Monitor)

    2001-01-01

    The cosmic microwave background radiation is the remnant heat from the Big Bang. It provides us with a unique probe of conditions in the early universe, long before any organized structures had yet formed. The anisotropy in the radiation's brightness yields important clues about primordial structure and additionally provides a wealth of information about the physics,of the early universe. Within the framework of inflationary dark matter models observations of the anisotropy on sub-degree angular scales will reveal the signatures of acoustic oscillations of the photon-baryon fluid at a redshift of approx. 1100. The validity of inflationary models will be tested and, if agreement is found, accurate values for most of the key cosmological parameters will result. If disagreement is found, we will need to rethink our basic ideas about the physics of the early universe. I will present an overview of the physical processes at work in forming the anisotropy and discuss what we have already learned from current observations. I will conclude with a brief overview of the recently launched Microwave Anisotropy Probe (MAP) mission which will observe the anisotropy over the full sky with 0.21 degree angular resolution. At the time of this meeting, MAP will have just arrived at the L2 Lagrange point, marking the start of its observing campaign. The MAP hardware is being produced by Goddard in partnership with Princeton University.

  5. Understanding the nature of information seeking behavior in critical care: implications for the design of health information technology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kannampallil, Thomas G; Franklin, Amy; Mishra, Rashmi; Almoosa, Khalid F; Cohen, Trevor; Patel, Vimla L

    2013-01-01

    Information in critical care environments is distributed across multiple sources, such as paper charts, electronic records, and support personnel. For decision-making tasks, physicians have to seek, gather, filter and organize information from various sources in a timely manner. The objective of this research is to characterize the nature of physicians' information seeking process, and the content and structure of clinical information retrieved during this process. Eight medical intensive care unit physicians provided a verbal think-aloud as they performed a clinical diagnosis task. Verbal descriptions of physicians' activities, sources of information they used, time spent on each information source, and interactions with other clinicians were captured for analysis. The data were analyzed using qualitative and quantitative approaches. We found that the information seeking process was exploratory and iterative and driven by the contextual organization of information. While there was no significant differences between the overall time spent paper or electronic records, there was marginally greater relative information gain (i.e., more unique information retrieved per unit time) from electronic records (t(6)=1.89, p=0.1). Additionally, information retrieved from electronic records was at a higher level (i.e., observations and findings) in the knowledge structure than paper records, reflecting differences in the nature of knowledge utilization across resources. A process of local optimization drove the information seeking process: physicians utilized information that maximized their information gain even though it required significantly more cognitive effort. Implications for the design of health information technology solutions that seamlessly integrate information seeking activities within the workflow, such as enriching the clinical information space and supporting efficient clinical reasoning and decision-making, are discussed. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All

  6. Measurement of MMP-9 and -12 degraded elastin (ELM) provides unique information on lung tissue degradation

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Skjøt-Arkil, Helene; Clausen, Rikke E; Nguyen, Quoc Hai Trieu

    2012-01-01

    Elastin is an essential component of selected connective tissues that provides a unique physiological elasticity. Elastin may be considered a signature protein of lungs where matrix metalloprotease (MMP) -9-and -12, may be considered the signature proteases of the macrophages, which in part...... are responsible for tissue damage during disease progression. Thus, we hypothesized that a MMP-9/-12 generated fragment of elastin may be a relevant biochemical maker for lung diseases....

  7. Review of "Conceptual Structures: Information Processing in Mind and Machine."

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smoliar, Stephen W.

    This review of the book, "Conceptual Structures: Information Processing in Mind and Machine," by John F. Sowa, argues that anyone who plans to get involved with issues of knowledge representation should have at least a passing acquaintance with Sowa's conceptual graphs for a database interface. (Used to model the underlying semantics of…

  8. Information and Informality

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Larsson, Magnus; Segerstéen, Solveig; Svensson, Cathrin

    2011-01-01

    leaders on the basis of their possession of reliable knowledge in technical as well as organizational domains. The informal leaders engaged in interpretation and brokering of information and knowledge, as well as in mediating strategic values and priorities on both formal and informal arenas. Informal...... leaders were thus seen to function on the level of the organization as a whole, and in cooperation with formal leaders. Drawing on existing theory of leadership in creative and professional contexts, this cooperation can be specified to concern task structuring. The informal leaders in our study...... contributed to task structuring through sensemaking activities, while formal leaders focused on aspects such as clarifying output expectations, providing feedback, project structure, and diversity....

  9. Generating unique IDs from patient identification data using security models

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Emad A Mohammed

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Background: The use of electronic health records (EHRs has continued to increase within healthcare systems in the developed and developing nations. EHRs allow for increased patient safety, grant patients easier access to their medical records, and offer a wealth of data to researchers. However, various bioethical, financial, logistical, and information security considerations must be addressed while transitioning to an EHR system. The need to encrypt private patient information for data sharing is one of the foremost challenges faced by health information technology. Method: We describe the usage of the message digest-5 (MD5 and secure hashing algorithm (SHA as methods for encrypting electronic medical data. In particular, we present an application of the MD5 and SHA-1 algorithms in encrypting a composite message from private patient information. Results: The results show that the composite message can be used to create a unique one-way encrypted ID per patient record that can be used for data sharing. Conclusion: The described software tool can be used to share patient EMRs between practitioners without revealing patients identifiable data.

  10. Generating unique IDs from patient identification data using security models.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mohammed, Emad A; Slack, Jonathan C; Naugler, Christopher T

    2016-01-01

    The use of electronic health records (EHRs) has continued to increase within healthcare systems in the developed and developing nations. EHRs allow for increased patient safety, grant patients easier access to their medical records, and offer a wealth of data to researchers. However, various bioethical, financial, logistical, and information security considerations must be addressed while transitioning to an EHR system. The need to encrypt private patient information for data sharing is one of the foremost challenges faced by health information technology. We describe the usage of the message digest-5 (MD5) and secure hashing algorithm (SHA) as methods for encrypting electronic medical data. In particular, we present an application of the MD5 and SHA-1 algorithms in encrypting a composite message from private patient information. The results show that the composite message can be used to create a unique one-way encrypted ID per patient record that can be used for data sharing. The described software tool can be used to share patient EMRs between practitioners without revealing patients identifiable data.

  11. Computational Approaches for Revealing the Structure of Membrane Transporters: Case Study on Bilitranslocase

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Katja Venko

    Full Text Available The structural and functional details of transmembrane proteins are vastly underexplored, mostly due to experimental difficulties regarding their solubility and stability. Currently, the majority of transmembrane protein structures are still unknown and this present a huge experimental and computational challenge. Nowadays, thanks to X-ray crystallography or NMR spectroscopy over 3000 structures of membrane proteins have been solved, among them only a few hundred unique ones. Due to the vast biological and pharmaceutical interest in the elucidation of the structure and the functional mechanisms of transmembrane proteins, several computational methods have been developed to overcome the experimental gap. If combined with experimental data the computational information enables rapid, low cost and successful predictions of the molecular structure of unsolved proteins. The reliability of the predictions depends on the availability and accuracy of experimental data associated with structural information. In this review, the following methods are proposed for in silico structure elucidation: sequence-dependent predictions of transmembrane regions, predictions of transmembrane helix–helix interactions, helix arrangements in membrane models, and testing their stability with molecular dynamics simulations. We also demonstrate the usage of the computational methods listed above by proposing a model for the molecular structure of the transmembrane protein bilitranslocase. Bilitranslocase is bilirubin membrane transporter, which shares similar tissue distribution and functional properties with some of the members of the Organic Anion Transporter family and is the only member classified in the Bilirubin Transporter Family. Regarding its unique properties, bilitranslocase is a potentially interesting drug target. Keywords: Membrane proteins, Bilitranslocase, 3D protein structure, Transmembrane region predictors, Helix–helix interactions

  12. Unique specification of Yang-Mills solutions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Campbell, W.B.; Joseph, D.W.; Morgan, T.A.

    1980-01-01

    Screened time-independent cylindrically-symmetric solutions of Yang-Mills equations are given which show that the source does not uniquely determine the field. However, these particular solutions suggest a natural way of uniquely specifying solutions in terms of a physical realization of a symmetry group. (orig.)

  13. Mnemonic transmission, social contagion, and emergence of collective memory: Influence of emotional valence, group structure, and information distribution.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Choi, Hae-Yoon; Kensinger, Elizabeth A; Rajaram, Suparna

    2017-09-01

    Social transmission of memory and its consequence on collective memory have generated enduring interdisciplinary interest because of their widespread significance in interpersonal, sociocultural, and political arenas. We tested the influence of 3 key factors-emotional salience of information, group structure, and information distribution-on mnemonic transmission, social contagion, and collective memory. Participants individually studied emotionally salient (negative or positive) and nonemotional (neutral) picture-word pairs that were completely shared, partially shared, or unshared within participant triads, and then completed 3 consecutive recalls in 1 of 3 conditions: individual-individual-individual (control), collaborative-collaborative (identical group; insular structure)-individual, and collaborative-collaborative (reconfigured group; diverse structure)-individual. Collaboration enhanced negative memories especially in insular group structure and especially for shared information, and promoted collective forgetting of positive memories. Diverse group structure reduced this negativity effect. Unequally distributed information led to social contagion that creates false memories; diverse structure propagated a greater variety of false memories whereas insular structure promoted confidence in false recognition and false collective memory. A simultaneous assessment of network structure, information distribution, and emotional valence breaks new ground to specify how network structure shapes the spread of negative memories and false memories, and the emergence of collective memory. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

  14. A method for partitioning the information contained in a protein sequence between its structure and function.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Possenti, Andrea; Vendruscolo, Michele; Camilloni, Carlo; Tiana, Guido

    2018-05-23

    Proteins employ the information stored in the genetic code and translated into their sequences to carry out well-defined functions in the cellular environment. The possibility to encode for such functions is controlled by the balance between the amount of information supplied by the sequence and that left after that the protein has folded into its structure. We study the amount of information necessary to specify the protein structure, providing an estimate that keeps into account the thermodynamic properties of protein folding. We thus show that the information remaining in the protein sequence after encoding for its structure (the 'information gap') is very close to what needed to encode for its function and interactions. Then, by predicting the information gap directly from the protein sequence, we show that it may be possible to use these insights from information theory to discriminate between ordered and disordered proteins, to identify unknown functions, and to optimize artificially-designed protein sequences. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  15. Communications tools in research projects to support Semi and Non Structured Information

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Astrid Jaime

    2005-06-01

    Full Text Available Innovation and thus the production of knowledge becomes a factor of competitiveness. In this context quality management could be complemented by knowledge management to aim the improvement of knowledge production by research activities process. To this end, after describing knowledge and informa-tion typologies in engineering activities, a knowledge man-agement system is proposed. The goal is to support: (1 Semi-Structured Information (e.g. reports, etc. thanks to the BASIC-Lab tool functions, which are based on attributing points of view and annotations to documents and document zones, and (2 Non-Structured Information (such as mail, dialogues, etc., thanks to MICA-Graph approach which intends to support ex-change of technical messages that concerns common resolution of research problems within project teams and to capitalise relevant knowledge. For the both approaches, prototype tools have been developed and evaluated, primarily to feed back with manufacturing knowledge in the EADS industrial envi-ronment.

  16. Wireless sensor placement for structural monitoring using information-fusing firefly algorithm

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhou, Guang-Dong; Yi, Ting-Hua; Xie, Mei-Xi; Li, Hong-Nan

    2017-10-01

    Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) are promising technology in structural health monitoring (SHM) applications for their low cost and high efficiency. The limited wireless sensors and restricted power resources in WSNs highlight the significance of optimal wireless sensor placement (OWSP) during designing SHM systems to enable the most useful information to be captured and to achieve the longest network lifetime. This paper presents a holistic approach, including an optimization criterion and a solution algorithm, for optimally deploying self-organizing multi-hop WSNs on large-scale structures. The combination of information effectiveness represented by the modal independence and the network performance specified by the network connectivity and network lifetime is first formulated to evaluate the performance of wireless sensor configurations. Then, an information-fusing firefly algorithm (IFFA) is developed to solve the OWSP problem. The step sizes drawn from a Lévy distribution are adopted to drive fireflies toward brighter individuals. Following the movement with Lévy flights, information about the contributions of wireless sensors to the objective function as carried by the fireflies is fused and applied to move inferior wireless sensors to better locations. The reliability of the proposed approach is verified via a numerical example on a long-span suspension bridge. The results demonstrate that the evaluation criterion provides a good performance metric of wireless sensor configurations, and the IFFA outperforms the simple discrete firefly algorithm.

  17. Modeling the Structure and Effectiveness of Intelligence Organizations: Dynamic Information Flow Simulation

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Behrman, Robert; Carley, Kathleen

    2003-01-01

    This paper describes the Dynamic Information Flow Simulation (DIFS), an abstract model for analyzing the structure and function of intelligence support organizations and the activities of entities within...

  18. Understanding Interdependency Through Complex Information Sharing

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fernando Rosas

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available The interactions between three or more random variables are often nontrivial, poorly understood and, yet, are paramount for future advances in fields such as network information theory, neuroscience and genetics. In this work, we analyze these interactions as different modes of information sharing. Towards this end, and in contrast to most of the literature that focuses on analyzing the mutual information, we introduce an axiomatic framework for decomposing the joint entropy that characterizes the various ways in which random variables can share information. Our framework distinguishes between interdependencies where the information is shared redundantly and synergistic interdependencies where the sharing structure exists in the whole, but not between the parts. The key contribution of our approach is to focus on symmetric properties of this sharing, which do not depend on a specific point of view for differentiating roles between its components. We show that our axioms determine unique formulas for all of the terms of the proposed decomposition for systems of three variables in several cases of interest. Moreover, we show how these results can be applied to several network information theory problems, providing a more intuitive understanding of their fundamental limits.

  19. Spatiotemporal Wave Patterns: Information Dynamics

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Mikhail Rabinovich; Lev Tsimring

    2006-01-20

    Pattern formation has traditionally been studied in non-equilibrium physics from the viewpoint of describing the basic structures and their interactions. While this is still an important area of research, the emphasis in the last few years has shifted towards analysis of specific properties of patterns in various complex media. For example, diverse and unexpected phenomena occur in neuro-like media that are characterized by highly non-trivial local dynamics. We carried out an active research program on analysis of spatio-temporal patterns in various physical systems (convection, oscillating fluid layer, soap film), as well as in neuro-like media, with an emphasis on informational aspects of the dynamics. Nonlinear nonequilibrium media and their discrete analogs have a unique ability to represent, memorize, and process the information contained in spatio-temporal patterns. Recent neurophysiological experiments demonstrated a certain universality of spatio-temporal representation of information by neural ensembles. Information processing is also revealed in the spatio-temporal dynamics of cellular patterns in nonequilibrium media. It is extremely important for many applications to study the informational aspects of these dynamics, including the origins and mechanisms of information generation, propagation and storage. Some of our results are: the discovery of self-organization of periodically oscillatory patterns in chaotic heterogeneous media; the analysis of the propagation of the information along a chaotic media as function of the entropy of the signal; the analysis of wave propagation in discrete non-equilibrium media with autocatalytic properties, which simulates the calcium dynamics in cellular membranes. Based on biological experiments we suggest the mechanism by which the spatial sensory information is transferred into the spatio-temporal code in the neural media. We also found a new mechanism of self-pinning in cellular structures and the related phenomenon

  20. Human NOD2 Recognizes Structurally Unique Muramyl Dipeptides from Mycobacterium leprae.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schenk, Mirjam; Mahapatra, Sebabrata; Le, Phuonganh; Kim, Hee Jin; Choi, Aaron W; Brennan, Patrick J; Belisle, John T; Modlin, Robert L

    2016-09-01

    The innate immune system recognizes microbial pathogens via pattern recognition receptors. One such receptor, NOD2, via recognition of muramyl dipeptide (MDP), triggers a distinct network of innate immune responses, including the production of interleukin-32 (IL-32), which leads to the differentiation of monocytes into dendritic cells (DC). NOD2 has been implicated in the pathogenesis of human leprosy, yet it is not clear whether Mycobacterium leprae, which has a distinct MDP structure, can activate this pathway. We investigated the effect of MDP structure on the innate immune response, finding that infection of monocytes with M. leprae induces IL-32 and DC differentiation in a NOD2-dependent manner. The presence of the proximal l-Ala instead of Gly in the common configuration of the peptide side chain of M. leprae did not affect recognition by NOD2 or cytokine production. Furthermore, amidation of the d-Glu residue did not alter NOD2 activation. These data provide experimental evidence that NOD2 recognizes naturally occurring structural variants of MDP. Copyright © 2016 Schenk et al.

  1. Morchella tomentosa: a unique belowground structure and a new clade of morels

    Science.gov (United States)

    Franck O.P. Stefani; Serge Sokolski; Trish L. Wurtz; Yves Piché; Richard C. Hamelin; J. André Fortin; Jean A. Bérubé

    2010-01-01

    Mechanisms involved in post-fire morel fructification remain unclear. A new undescribed belowground vegetative structure of Marchella tomentosa in a burned boreal forest was investigated north of Fairbanks, Alaska. The name "radiscisclerotium" is proposed to define this peculiar and elaborate belowground vegetative structure of ...

  2. Unique Chiral Interpenetrating d-f Heterometallic MOFs as Luminescent Sensors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wu, Zhi-Lei; Dong, Jie; Ni, Wei-Yan; Zhang, Bo-Wen; Cui, Jian-Zhong; Zhao, Bin

    2015-06-01

    One novel three-dimensional (3D) 3d-4f metal-organic framework (MOF), [TbZn(L)(CO3)2(H2O)]n (1) [HL = 4'-(4-carboxyphenyl)-2,2':6',2″-terpyridine], has been successfully synthesized and structurally characterized. Structural analysis shows that compound 1 features a unique chiral interpenetrating 3D framework for the first time. The resulting crystals of 1 are composed of enantiomers 1a (P41) and 1b (P43), as was clearly confirmed by the crystal structure and the corresponding circular dichroism (CD) analyses of eight randomly selected crystals. The investigations on CD spectra based on every single crystal clearly assigned the Cotton effect signals. The powder X-ray diffraction measurement of 1 after being immersed in common solvents reveals that 1 possess excellent solvent stability. Furthermore, luminescent studies imply that 1 displays highly selective luminescent sensing of aldehydes, such as formol, acetaldehyde, and propanal.

  3. Carotamine, a Unique Aromatic Amide from Daucus Carota L. Var Biossieri (Apiaceae

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mohamed M. El-Azizi

    2002-06-01

    Full Text Available The unique aromatic peptide 4-(p-aminobenzoylamino-2-aminobenzoic acid, carotamine, together with 2,4-diaminobenzoic acid, isolated for the first time from a plant source, were identified from the aqueous alcoholic extract of the aerial parts of Daucus carota L. var. boissieri (Apiaceae. The structures were determined through conventional methods of analysis and confirmed by LC-ESI/MS and NMR spectral analysis.

  4. Uniqueness of time-independent electromagnetic fields

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Karlsson, Per W.

    1974-01-01

    As a comment on a recent paper by Steele, a more general uniqueness theorem for time-independent fields is mentioned. ©1974 American Institute of Physics......As a comment on a recent paper by Steele, a more general uniqueness theorem for time-independent fields is mentioned. ©1974 American Institute of Physics...

  5. Changes in unique hues induced by chromatic surrounds.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Klauke, Susanne; Wachtler, Thomas

    2016-03-01

    A chromatic surround can have a strong influence on the perceived hue of a stimulus. We investigated whether chromatic induction has similar effects on the perception of colors that appear pure and unmixed (unique red, green, blue, and yellow) as on other colors. Subjects performed unique hue settings of stimuli in isoluminant surrounds of different chromaticities. Compared with the settings in a neutral gray surround, unique hue settings altered systematically with chromatic surrounds. The amount of induced hue shift depended on the difference between stimulus and surround hues, and was similar for unique hue settings as for settings of nonunique hues. Intraindividual variability in unique hue settings was roughly twice as high as for settings obtained in asymmetric matching experiments, which may reflect the presence of a reference stimulus in the matching task. Variabilities were also larger with chromatic surrounds than with neutral gray surrounds, for both unique hue settings and matching of nonunique hues. The results suggest that the neural representations underlying unique hue percepts are influenced by the same neural processing mechanisms as the percepts of other colors.

  6. The Neuropeptide Oxytocin Enhances Information Sharing and Group Decision Making Quality

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    De Wilde, T.R.W.; Ten Velden, F.S.; De Dreu, C.K.W.

    2017-01-01

    Groups can make better decisions than individuals when members cooperatively exchange and integrate their uniquely held information and insights. However, under conformity pressures group members are biased towards exchanging commonly known information, and away from exchanging unique information,

  7. Enabling cell-cell communication via nanopore formation: structure, function and localization of the unique cell wall amidase AmiC2 of Nostoc punctiforme.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Büttner, Felix M; Faulhaber, Katharina; Forchhammer, Karl; Maldener, Iris; Stehle, Thilo

    2016-04-01

    To orchestrate a complex life style in changing environments, the filamentous cyanobacterium Nostoc punctiforme facilitates communication between neighboring cells through septal junction complexes. This is achieved by nanopores that perforate the peptidoglycan (PGN) layer and traverse the cell septa. The N-acetylmuramoyl-l-alanine amidase AmiC2 (Npun_F1846; EC 3.5.1.28) in N. punctiforme generates arrays of such nanopores in the septal PGN, in contrast to homologous amidases that mediate daughter cell separation after cell division in unicellular bacteria. Nanopore formation is therefore a novel property of AmiC homologs. Immunofluorescence shows that native AmiC2 localizes to the maturing septum. The high-resolution crystal structure (1.12 Å) of its catalytic domain (AmiC2-cat) differs significantly from known structures of cell splitting and PGN recycling amidases. A wide and shallow binding cavity allows easy access of the substrate to the active site, which harbors an essential zinc ion. AmiC2-cat exhibits strong hydrolytic activity in vitro. A single point mutation of a conserved glutamate near the zinc ion results in total loss of activity, whereas zinc removal leads to instability of AmiC2-cat. An inhibitory α-helix, as found in the Escherichia coli AmiC(E. coli) structure, is absent. Taken together, our data provide insight into the cell-biological, biochemical and structural properties of an unusual cell wall lytic enzyme that generates nanopores for cell-cell communication in multicellular cyanobacteria. The novel structural features of the catalytic domain and the unique biological function of AmiC2 hint at mechanisms of action and regulation that are distinct from other amidases. The AmiC2-cat structure has been deposited in the Protein Data Bank under accession number 5EMI. © 2016 Federation of European Biochemical Societies.

  8. Study of a unique 16th century Antwerp majolica floor in the Rameyenhof castle's chapel by means of X-ray fluorescence and portable Raman analytical instrumentation

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Van de Voorde, Lien, E-mail: lien.vandevoorde@ugent.be [Ghent University, Department of Analytical Chemistry, X-Ray Microspectroscopy and Imaging Research Group, Krijgslaan 281 S12, B-9000 Ghent (Belgium); Vandevijvere, Melissa [Ghent University, Department of Analytical Chemistry, X-Ray Microspectroscopy and Imaging Research Group, Krijgslaan 281 S12, B-9000 Ghent (Belgium); University of Antwerp, Faculty of Architecture and Design, Conservation Studies, Centre for Conservation Research (CCR), Blindestraat 9, 2000 Antwerp (Belgium); University of Antwerp, Department of Chemistry, X-ray and Instrumentation Lab (AXI2L), Groenenborgerlaan 171, 2020 Antwerp (Belgium); Vekemans, Bart [Ghent University, Department of Analytical Chemistry, X-Ray Microspectroscopy and Imaging Research Group, Krijgslaan 281 S12, B-9000 Ghent (Belgium); Van Pevenage, Jolien [Ghent University, Department of Analytical Chemistry, Raman Spectroscopy Research Group, Krijgslaan 281 S12, B-9000 Ghent (Belgium); Caen, Joost [University of Antwerp, Faculty of Architecture and Design, Conservation Studies, Centre for Conservation Research (CCR), Blindestraat 9, 2000 Antwerp (Belgium); Vandenabeele, Peter [Ghent University, Department of Archaeology, Archaeometry Research Group, Sint-Pietersnieuwstraat 35, B-9000 Ghent (Belgium); Van Espen, Piet [University of Antwerp, Department of Chemistry, X-ray and Instrumentation Lab (AXI2L), Groenenborgerlaan 171, 2020 Antwerp (Belgium); Vincze, Laszlo [Ghent University, Department of Analytical Chemistry, X-Ray Microspectroscopy and Imaging Research Group, Krijgslaan 281 S12, B-9000 Ghent (Belgium)

    2014-12-01

    The most unique and only known 16th century Antwerp majolica tile floor in Belgium is situated in a tower of the Rameyenhof castle (Gestel, Belgium). This exceptional work of art has recently been investigated in situ by using X-ray fluorescence (XRF) and Raman spectroscopy in order to study the material characteristics. This study reports on the result of the analyses based on the novel combination of non-destructive and portable instrumentation, including a handheld XRF spectrometer for obtaining elemental information and a mobile Raman spectrometer for retrieving structural and molecular information on the floor tiles in the Rameyenhof castle and on a second, similar medallion, which is stored in the Rubens House museum in Antwerp (Belgium). The investigated material, majolica, is a type of ceramic, which fascinated many people and potters throughout history by its beauty and colourful appearance. In this study the characteristic major/minor and trace element signature of 16th century Antwerp majolica is determined and the pigments used for the colourful paintings present on the floor are identified. Furthermore, based on the elemental fingerprint of the white glaze, and in particular on the presence of zinc in the tiles – an element that was not used for making 16th century majolica – valuable information about the originality of the chapel floor and the two central medallions is acquired. - Highlights: • In situ, non-destructive investigation of a unique Antwerp majolica floor • Multi-methodological approach: make use of a mobile Raman and X-ray spectrometer • Obtaining information about layered structure of Antwerp majolica • The used pigments in the majolica floor in Rameyenhof castle are characterized. • The verification of the authenticity of the floor and two central medallions are performed.

  9. Structural characterization of silver nanoparticles

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Garcia, Paulo Ricardo; Sousa, Edi Carlos Pereira de; Pontuschka, Walter Maigon; Oliveira, Cristiano Luis Pinto de, E-mail: pauloricardoafg@yahoo.com.br [Universidade de Sao Paulo (USP), Sao Paulo, SP (Brazil). Instituto de Fisica

    2016-07-01

    Full text: Due to magnetic, optical and electrical properties metallic nanoparticles have been extensively studied to potential applications in biosensor production, separation of biological molecules, image techniques, drug delivery among several others. For such applications, it is crucial to have crystals with morphology and well defined structure. In this work we presented a detailed structured characterization of silver nanoparticles using small angle x-rays and light scattering methods. The comparison and correlation of these results with electron microscopy images permitted the determination of interesting structural parameters for the studied systems. The oscillations of the intensity curve of SAXS data reveal that this sample has particles with reasonable stability and well defined sizes. The mean radius obtained from the size distribution curve is in good agreement with the ones obtained by TEM images. As will be shown, the combination of several techniques and the correct analysis for the obtained experimental data provides unique information on the structure of the studied systems. (author)

  10. On the Existence and Uniqueness of JML Estimates for the Partial Credit Model

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bertoli-Barsotti, Lucio

    2005-01-01

    A necessary and sufficient condition is given in this paper for the existence and uniqueness of the maximum likelihood (the so-called joint maximum likelihood) estimate of the parameters of the Partial Credit Model. This condition is stated in terms of a structural property of the pattern of the data matrix that can be easily verified on the basis…

  11. The liberal illusion of uniqueness.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stern, Chadly; West, Tessa V; Schmitt, Peter G

    2014-01-01

    In two studies, we demonstrated that liberals underestimate their similarity to other liberals (i.e., display truly false uniqueness), whereas moderates and conservatives overestimate their similarity to other moderates and conservatives (i.e., display truly false consensus; Studies 1 and 2). We further demonstrated that a fundamental difference between liberals and conservatives in the motivation to feel unique explains this ideological distinction in the accuracy of estimating similarity (Study 2). Implications of the accuracy of consensus estimates for mobilizing liberal and conservative political movements are discussed.

  12. A unique distortion in K{sub 1/3}Ba{sub 2/3}AgTe{sub 2}: X-ray diffraction determination and electronic band structure analysis of its incommensurately modulated structure

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Gourdon, O; Hanko, J; Boucher, F; Petricek, V; Whangbo, M H; Kanatzidis, M G; Evain, M

    2000-04-03

    The incommensurately modulated structure of a square Te-net, namely that of K{sub 1/3}Ba{sub 2/3}AgTe{sub 2}, is determined from single-crystal X-ray diffraction data within a (3+1)D higher dimension formalism. The phase is shown to crystallize in the monoclinic symmetry, P2{sub 1}({alpha}0{gamma}) superspace group with the following lattice parameters: a = 4.6441(10) {angstrom}, b = 4.6292(12) {angstrom}, c = 23.765(9) {angstrom}, and {beta} = 101.28(2){degree} with q = 0.3248(6)a* {minus}0.07(8)c*, that is, in a symmetry different from that reported for the average structure (tetragonal) or that assumed from electron diffraction measurements (orthorhombic). After the introduction of a crenel function for the Te displacive description, the refinement converged to a residual factor R = 0.033 for 2583 observed reflections and 115 parameters (R = 0.024 and 0.101 for 1925 main reflections and 658 first-order satellites, respectively). The [Ag{sub 2}-Te{sub 2}] and the Ba/K layers are found to be only weakly modulated. The modulation of the square Te-net is, however, both substantial and unique. Namely, it results in two different units: a V-shaped Te{sub 3} trimer and a W-shaped Te{sub 5} pentamer. To examine both unit types, which are segregated in domains that aperiodically alternate within the Te layers, first principles electronic band structure calculations were carried out for three model commensurate structures using the tight-binding linear-muffin-tin-orbital method (LMTO). The calculations show that the distorted structures of V-pattern (model 2) and W-pattern (model 3) are more stable than the average structure (model 1) and that the V-pattern distortion provides a slightly larger stabilization than does the W-pattern distortion. The Fermi surface calculated for the average structure shows nesting vectors that are consistent with the occurrence of the V- and W-pattern distortions in the Te layers. However, these vectors do not predict the observed modulation

  13. A cautionary note on the use of information fit indexes in covariance structure modeling with means

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Wicherts, J.M.; Dolan, C.V.

    2004-01-01

    Information fit indexes such as Akaike Information Criterion, Consistent Akaike Information Criterion, Bayesian Information Criterion, and the expected cross validation index can be valuable in assessing the relative fit of structural equation models that differ regarding restrictiveness. In cases

  14. Structure of the ordered hydration of amino acids in proteins: analysis of crystal structures

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Biedermannová, Lada, E-mail: lada.biedermannova@ibt.cas.cz; Schneider, Bohdan [Institute of Biotechnology CAS, Videnska 1083, 142 20 Prague (Czech Republic)

    2015-10-27

    The hydration of protein crystal structures was studied at the level of individual amino acids. The dependence of the number of water molecules and their preferred spatial localization on various parameters, such as solvent accessibility, secondary structure and side-chain conformation, was determined. Crystallography provides unique information about the arrangement of water molecules near protein surfaces. Using a nonredundant set of 2818 protein crystal structures with a resolution of better than 1.8 Å, the extent and structure of the hydration shell of all 20 standard amino-acid residues were analyzed as function of the residue conformation, secondary structure and solvent accessibility. The results show how hydration depends on the amino-acid conformation and the environment in which it occurs. After conformational clustering of individual residues, the density distribution of water molecules was compiled and the preferred hydration sites were determined as maxima in the pseudo-electron-density representation of water distributions. Many hydration sites interact with both main-chain and side-chain amino-acid atoms, and several occurrences of hydration sites with less canonical contacts, such as carbon–donor hydrogen bonds, OH–π interactions and off-plane interactions with aromatic heteroatoms, are also reported. Information about the location and relative importance of the empirically determined preferred hydration sites in proteins has applications in improving the current methods of hydration-site prediction in molecular replacement, ab initio protein structure prediction and the set-up of molecular-dynamics simulations.

  15. Botulinum neurotoxin: unique folding of enzyme domain of the most-poisonous poison.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kumar, Raj; Kukreja, Roshan V; Li, Li; Zhmurov, Artem; Kononova, Olga; Cai, Shuowei; Ahmed, Syed A; Barsegov, Valeri; Singh, Bal Ram

    2014-01-01

    Botulinum neurotoxin (BoNT), the most toxic substance known to mankind, is the first example of the fully active molten globule state. To understand its folding mechanism, we performed urea denaturation experiments and theoretical modeling using BoNT serotype A (BoNT/A). We found that the extent of BoNT/A denaturation from the native state (N) shows a nonmonotonic dependence on urea concentration indicating a unique multistep denaturation process, N → I1 [Formula: see text] I2 [Formula: see text] U, with two intermediate states I1 and I2. BoNT/A loses almost all its secondary structure in 3.75 M urea (I1), yet it displays a native-like secondary structure in 5 M urea (I2). This agrees with the results of theoretical modeling, which helped to determine the molecular basis of unique behavior of BoNT/A in solution. Except for I2, all the states revert back to full enzymatic activity for SNAP-25 including the unfolded state U stable in 7 M urea. Our results stress the importance of structural flexibility in the toxin's mechanism of survival and action, an unmatched evolutionary trait from billion-year-old bacteria, which also correlates with the long-lasting enzymatic activity of BoNT inside neuronal cells. BoNT/A provides a rich model to explore protein folding in relation to functional activity.

  16. Structure, context, complexity, organization: physical aspects of information and value

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Eriksson, Karl-Erik; Lindgren, Kristian; Månsson, Bengt Å

    1987-01-01

    ... and of information theory are general enough to play such a role. The authors have been involved in studies of the handling of natural resources in human societies. There we met problems and ideas which led us to the theme of this book: a perspective and a set of concepts, useful for describing and understanding processes in which structure emerges. T...

  17. Employee retention within the Information Technology Division of a South African Bank

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Joy Mohlala

    2012-05-01

    Research purpose: To understand the challenges faced by the bank’s information technology leadership team to retain employees. Motivation for the study: To understand the challenges faced in attracting and retaining information technology professionals, and how this can serve as input for reducing skills shortages in Information Technology Divisions. Research design, approach and method: An interpretive approach employing a case study strategy and qualitative methods was employed. Semi structured interviews were conducted with thirteen senior managers and four directors of the bank’s Information Technology Division, who were selected on a purposive basis. Data were subjected to Creswell’s four stage data analysis process. Main findings: Findings indicate that employee turnover is the main contributor of skills shortages within the studied division. The lack of a retention strategy is making it difficult for leadership to identify crucial skills that must be retained. Practical/managerial implications: Evidence suggests that this bank, although they would like to retain information technology professionals, is not creating an environment conducive to do this, as little attention is paid to the unique demands of this group of employees. Contribution/value-add: This study investigates a specific group of employees for which a unique retention strategy does not exist. In understanding the challenges that impact on attracting and retaining information technology professionals, this study can contribute to the development of a retention strategy for these employees.

  18. Reaching Agreement: The Structure & Pragmatics of Critical Care Nurses' Informal Argument

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hagler, Debra A.; Brem, Sarah K.

    2008-01-01

    The hospital critical care unit provides an authentic, high-stakes setting for studying reasoning, argumentation, and discourse. In particular, it allows examination of structural and pragmatic features of informal collaborative argument created while participants are engaged in familiar, meaningful activities central to their work. The nursing…

  19. STRUCTURAL AND FUNCTIONAL MODEL OF FORMING INFORMATIONAL COMPETENCE OF TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY STUDENTS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Taras Ostapchuk

    2016-11-01

    Full Text Available The article elaborates and analyses the structural and functional model of formation of information competence of technical university students. The system and mutual relationships between its elements are revealed. It is found out that the presence of the target structure of the proposed model, process and result-evaluative blocks ensure its functioning and the opportunity to optimize the learning process for technical school students’ information training. It is established that the formation of technical university students’ information competence based on components such as motivational value, as well as operational activity, cognitive, and reflexive one. These criteria (motivation, operational and activity, cognitive, reflective, indexes and levels (reproductive, technologized, constructive forming technical university students’ information competence are disclosed. Expediency of complex organizational and educational conditions in the stages of information competence is justified. The complex organizational and pedagogical conditions include: orientation in the organization and implementation of class work for technical university students’ positive value treatment; the issue of forming professionalism; informatization of educational and socio-cultural environment of higher technical educational institutions; orientation of technical university students’ training to the demands of European and international standards on information competence as a factor in the formation of competitiveness at the labor market; introducing a special course curriculum that will provide competence formation due to the use of information technology in professional activities. Forms (lecture, visualization, problem lecture, combined lecture, scientific online conference, recitals, excursions, etc., tools (computer lab, multimedia projector, interactive whiteboard, multimedia technology (audio, video, the Internet technologies; social networks, etc

  20. Detection of image structures using the Fisher information and the Rao metric.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maybank, Stephen J

    2004-12-01

    In many detection problems, the structures to be detected are parameterized by the points of a parameter space. If the conditional probability density function for the measurements is known, then detection can be achieved by sampling the parameter space at a finite number of points and checking each point to see if the corresponding structure is supported by the data. The number of samples and the distances between neighboring samples are calculated using the Rao metric on the parameter space. The Rao metric is obtained from the Fisher information which is, in turn, obtained from the conditional probability density function. An upper bound is obtained for the probability of a false detection. The calculations are simplified in the low noise case by making an asymptotic approximation to the Fisher information. An application to line detection is described. Expressions are obtained for the asymptotic approximation to the Fisher information, the volume of the parameter space, and the number of samples. The time complexity for line detection is estimated. An experimental comparison is made with a Hough transform-based method for detecting lines.

  1. Uniqueness plots: A simple graphical tool for identifying poor peak fits in X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Singh, Bhupinder; Diwan, Anubhav; Jain, Varun; Herrera-Gomez, Alberto; Terry, Jeff; Linford, Matthew R.

    2016-01-01

    Highlights: • Uniqueness plots are introduced as a new tool for identifying poor XPS peak fits. • Uniqueness plots are demonstrated on real XPS data sets. • A horizontal line in a uniqueness plot indicates a poor fit, i.e., fit parameter correlation. • A parabolic shape in a uniqueness plot indicates that a fit may be appropriate. - Abstract: Peak fitting is an essential part of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) narrow scan analysis, and the Literature contains both good and bad examples of peak fitting. A common cause of poor peak fitting is the inclusion of too many fit parameters, often without a sound chemical and/or physical basis for them, and/or the failure to reasonably constrain them. Under these conditions, fit parameters are often correlated, and therefore lacking in statistical meaning. Here we introduce the uniqueness plot as a simple graphical tool for identifying bad peak fits in XPS, i.e., fit parameter correlation. These plots are widely used in spectroscopic ellipsometry. We illustrate uniqueness plots with two data sets: a C 1s narrow scan from ozone-treated carbon nanotube forests and an Si 2p narrow scan from an air-oxidized silicon wafer. For each fit, we consider different numbers of parameters and constraints on them. As expected, the uniqueness plots are parabolic when fewer fit parameters and/or more constraints are applied. However, they fan out and eventually become horizontal lines as more unconstrained parameters are included in the fits. Uniqueness plots are generated by plotting the chi squared (χ 2 ) value for a fit vs. a systematically varied value of a parameter in the fit. The Abbe criterion is also considered as a figure of merit for uniqueness plots in the Supporting Information. We recommend that uniqueness plots be used by XPS practitioners for identifying inappropriate peak fits.

  2. Uniqueness plots: A simple graphical tool for identifying poor peak fits in X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Singh, Bhupinder; Diwan, Anubhav; Jain, Varun [Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT, 84606 (United States); Herrera-Gomez, Alberto [CINVESTAV-Unidad Queretaro, Queretaro, 76230 (Mexico); Terry, Jeff [Department of Physics, Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, IL, 60616 (United States); Linford, Matthew R., E-mail: mrlinford@chem.byu.edu [Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT, 84606 (United States)

    2016-11-30

    Highlights: • Uniqueness plots are introduced as a new tool for identifying poor XPS peak fits. • Uniqueness plots are demonstrated on real XPS data sets. • A horizontal line in a uniqueness plot indicates a poor fit, i.e., fit parameter correlation. • A parabolic shape in a uniqueness plot indicates that a fit may be appropriate. - Abstract: Peak fitting is an essential part of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) narrow scan analysis, and the Literature contains both good and bad examples of peak fitting. A common cause of poor peak fitting is the inclusion of too many fit parameters, often without a sound chemical and/or physical basis for them, and/or the failure to reasonably constrain them. Under these conditions, fit parameters are often correlated, and therefore lacking in statistical meaning. Here we introduce the uniqueness plot as a simple graphical tool for identifying bad peak fits in XPS, i.e., fit parameter correlation. These plots are widely used in spectroscopic ellipsometry. We illustrate uniqueness plots with two data sets: a C 1s narrow scan from ozone-treated carbon nanotube forests and an Si 2p narrow scan from an air-oxidized silicon wafer. For each fit, we consider different numbers of parameters and constraints on them. As expected, the uniqueness plots are parabolic when fewer fit parameters and/or more constraints are applied. However, they fan out and eventually become horizontal lines as more unconstrained parameters are included in the fits. Uniqueness plots are generated by plotting the chi squared (χ{sup 2}) value for a fit vs. a systematically varied value of a parameter in the fit. The Abbe criterion is also considered as a figure of merit for uniqueness plots in the Supporting Information. We recommend that uniqueness plots be used by XPS practitioners for identifying inappropriate peak fits.

  3. Seafloor massive sulfide deposits support unique megafaunal assemblages: Implications for seabed mining and conservation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Boschen, Rachel E; Rowden, Ashley A; Clark, Malcolm R; Pallentin, Arne; Gardner, Jonathan P A

    2016-04-01

    Mining of seafloor massive sulfides (SMS) is imminent, but the ecology of assemblages at SMS deposits is poorly known. Proposed conservation strategies include protected areas to preserve biodiversity at risk from mining impacts. Determining site suitability requires biological characterisation of the mine site and protected area(s). Video survey of a proposed mine site and protected area off New Zealand revealed unique megafaunal assemblages at the mine site. Significant relationships were identified between assemblage structure and environmental conditions, including hydrothermal features. Unique assemblages occurred at both active and inactive chimneys and are particularly at risk from mining-related impacts. The occurrence of unique assemblages at the mine site suggests that the proposed protected area is insufficient alone and should instead form part of a network. These results provide support for including hydrothermally active and inactive features within networks of protected areas and emphasise the need for quantitative survey data of proposed sites. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

  4. Uniqueness of magnetotomography for fuel cells and fuel cell stacks

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lustfeld, H; Hirschfeld, J; Reissel, M; Steffen, B

    2009-01-01

    The criterion for the applicability of any tomographic method is its ability to construct the desired inner structure of a system from external measurements, i.e. to solve the inverse problem. Magnetotomography applied to fuel cells and fuel cell stacks aims at determining the inner current densities from measurements of the external magnetic field. This is an interesting idea since in those systems the inner electric current densities are large, several hundred mA per cm 2 and therefore relatively high external magnetic fields can be expected. Still the question remains how uniquely the inverse problem can be solved. Here we present a proof that by exploiting Maxwell's equations extensively the inverse problem of magnetotomography becomes unique under rather mild assumptions and we show that these assumptions are fulfilled in fuel cells and fuel cell stacks. Moreover, our proof holds true for any other device fulfilling the assumptions listed here. Admittedly, our proof has one caveat: it does not contain an estimate of the precision requirements the measurements need to fulfil for enabling reconstruction of the inner current densities from external magnetic fields.

  5. Uniqueness for cross-diffusion systems issuing from seawater intrusion problems

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Catherine Choquet

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available We consider a model mixing sharp and diffuse interface approaches for seawater intrusion phenomenons in confined and unconfined aquifers. More precisely, a phase field model is introduced in the boundary conditions on the virtual sharp interfaces. We thus include in the model the existence of diffuse transition zones but we preserve the simplified structure allowing front tracking. The three-dimensional problem then reduces to a two-dimensional model involving a strongly coupled system of partial differential equations of parabolic and elliptic type describing the evolution of the depth of the interface between salt- and freshwater and the evolution of the freshwater hydraulic head. Assuming a low hydraulic conductivity inside the aquifer, we prove the uniqueness of a weak solution for the model completed with initial and boundary conditions. Thanks to a generalization of a Meyer's regularity result, we establish that the gradient of the solution belongs to the space $L^r$, r>2. This additional regularity combined with the Gagliardo-Nirenberg inequality for r=4 allows to handle the nonlinearity of the system in the proof of uniqueness.

  6. Coexistence of uniquely ergodic subsystems of interval mapping

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ye Xiangdong.

    1991-10-01

    The purpose of this paper is to show that uniquely ergodic subsystems of interval mapping also coexist in the same way as minimal sets do. To do this we give some notations in section 2. In section 3 we define D-function of a uniquely ergodic system and show its basic properties. We prove the coexistence of uniquely ergodic subsystems of interval mapping in section 4. Lastly we give the examples of uniquely ergodic systems with given D-functions in section 5. 27 refs

  7. Use of Statistical Information for Damage Assessment of Civil Engineering Structures

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kirkegaard, Poul Henning; Andersen, P.

    This paper considers the problem of damage assessment of civil engineering structures using statistical information. The aim of the paper is to review how researchers recently have tried to solve the problem. It is pointed out that the problem consists of not only how to use the statistical...

  8. 2XIIB vacuum vessel: a unique design

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hibbs, S.M.; Calderon, M.O.

    1975-01-01

    The 2XIIB mirror confinement experiment makes unique demands on its vacuum system. The confinement coil set encloses a cavity whose surface is comprised of both simple and compound curves. Within this cavity and at the core of the machine is the operating vacuum which is on the order of 10 -9 Torr. The vacuum container fits inside the cavity, presenting an inside surface suitable for titanium getter pumping and a means of removing the heat load imposed by incandescent sublimator wires. In addition, the cavity is constructed of nonmagnetic and nonconducting materials (nonmetals) to avoid distortion of the pulsed confinement field. It is also isolated from mechanical shocks induced in the machine's main structure when the coils are pulsed. This paper describes the design, construction, and operation of the 2XIIB high-vacuum vessel that has been performing successfully since early 1974

  9. Non-unique Product Groups on Two Generators

    OpenAIRE

    Carter, William Paul

    2007-01-01

    The main purpose of this paper is to better understand groups that do not have the unique product property. In particular, the goal is to better understand Promislow's example, G, of such a group. In doing so, we will develop methods for generating examples of other sets that do not have the unique product property. With these methods we can show that there exists other distinct 14 element, square, non-unique product sets in G that are not inversions or translations. Also, this paper answers ...

  10. SAPIENS: Spreading Activation Processor for Information Encoded in Network Structures. Technical Report No. 296.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ortony, Andrew; Radin, Dean I.

    The product of researchers' efforts to develop a computer processor which distinguishes between relevant and irrelevant information in the database, Spreading Activation Processor for Information Encoded in Network Structures (SAPIENS) exhibits (1) context sensitivity, (2) efficiency, (3) decreasing activation over time, (4) summation of…

  11. Autobiographical memory functions of nostalgia in comparison to rumination and counterfactual thinking: similarity and uniqueness.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cheung, Wing-Yee; Wildschut, Tim; Sedikides, Constantine

    2018-02-01

    We compared and contrasted nostalgia with rumination and counterfactual thinking in terms of their autobiographical memory functions. Specifically, we assessed individual differences in nostalgia, rumination, and counterfactual thinking, which we then linked to self-reported functions or uses of autobiographical memory (Self-Regard, Boredom Reduction, Death Preparation, Intimacy Maintenance, Conversation, Teach/Inform, and Bitterness Revival). We tested which memory functions are shared and which are uniquely linked to nostalgia. The commonality among nostalgia, rumination, and counterfactual thinking resides in their shared positive associations with all memory functions: individuals who evinced a stronger propensity towards past-oriented thought (as manifested in nostalgia, rumination, and counterfactual thinking) reported greater overall recruitment of memories in the service of present functioning. The uniqueness of nostalgia resides in its comparatively strong positive associations with Intimacy Maintenance, Teach/Inform, and Self-Regard and weak association with Bitterness Revival. In all, nostalgia possesses a more positive functional signature than do rumination and counterfactual thinking.

  12. Structural characterization of the bacterial proteasome homolog BPH reveals a tetradecameric double-ring complex with unique inner cavity properties.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fuchs, Adrian C D; Maldoner, Lorena; Hipp, Katharina; Hartmann, Marcus D; Martin, Jörg

    2018-01-19

    Eukaryotic and archaeal proteasomes are paradigms for self-compartmentalizing proteases. To a large extent, their function requires interplay with hexameric ATPases associated with diverse cellular activities (AAA+) that act as substrate unfoldases. Bacteria have various types of self-compartmentalizing proteases; in addition to the proteasome itself, these include the proteasome homolog HslV, which functions together with the AAA+ HslU; the ClpP protease with its partner AAA+ ClpX; and Anbu, a recently characterized ancestral proteasome variant. Previous bioinformatic analysis has revealed a novel bacterial member of the proteasome family Betaproteobacteria proteasome homolog (BPH). Using cluster analysis, we here affirmed that BPH evolutionarily descends from HslV. Crystal structures of the Thiobacillus denitrificans and Cupriavidus metallidurans BPHs disclosed a homo-oligomeric double-ring architecture in which the active sites face the interior of the cylinder. Using small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) and electron microscopy averaging, we found that BPH forms tetradecamers in solution, unlike the dodecamers seen in HslV. Although the highly acidic inner surface of BPH was in striking contrast to the cavity characteristics of the proteasome and HslV, a classical proteasomal reaction mechanism could be inferred from the covalent binding of the proteasome-specific inhibitor epoxomicin to BPH. A ligand-bound structure implied that the elongated BPH inner pore loop may be involved in substrate recognition. The apparent lack of a partner unfoldase and other unique features, such as Ser replacing Thr as the catalytic residue in certain BPH subfamilies, suggest a proteolytic function for BPH distinct from those of known bacterial self-compartmentalizing proteases. © 2018 by The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc.

  13. Tattoos and piercings: bodily expressions of uniqueness?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tiggemann, Marika; Hopkins, Louise A

    2011-06-01

    The study aimed to investigate the motivations underlying the body modification practices of tattooing and piercing. There were 80 participants recruited from an Australian music store, who provided descriptions of their tattoos and piercings and completed measures of need for uniqueness, appearance investment and distinctive appearance investment. It was found that tattooed individuals scored significantly higher on need for uniqueness than non-tattooed individuals. Further, individuals with conventional ear piercings scored significantly lower on need for uniqueness than individuals with no piercings or with facial and body piercings. Neither appearance investment nor distinctive appearance investment differed significantly among tattoo or piercing status groups. Strength of identification with music was significantly correlated with number of tattoos, but not number of piercings. It was concluded that tattooing, but not body piercing, represents a bodily expression of uniqueness. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  14. The Neuropeptide Oxytocin Enhances Information Sharing and Group Decision Making Quality.

    Science.gov (United States)

    De Wilde, Tim R W; Ten Velden, Femke S; De Dreu, Carsten K W

    2017-01-11

    Groups can make better decisions than individuals when members cooperatively exchange and integrate their uniquely held information and insights. However, under conformity pressures group members are biased towards exchanging commonly known information, and away from exchanging unique information, thus undermining group decision-making quality. At the neurobiological level, conformity associates with the neuropeptide oxytocin. A double-blind placebo controlled study found no evidence for oxytocin induced conformity. Compared to placebo groups, three-person groups whose members received intranasal oxytocin, focused more on unique information (i) and repeated this information more often (ii). These findings reveal oxytocin as a neurobiological driver of group decision-making processes.

  15. Cone photoreceptor sensitivities and unique hue chromatic responses: correlation and causation imply the physiological basis of unique hues.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pridmore, Ralph W

    2013-01-01

    This paper relates major functions at the start and end of the color vision process. The process starts with three cone photoreceptors transducing light into electrical responses. Cone sensitivities were once expected to be Red Green Blue color matching functions (to mix colors) but microspectrometry proved otherwise: they instead peak in yellowish, greenish, and blueish hues. These physiological functions are an enigma, unmatched with any set of psychophysical (behavioral) functions. The end-result of the visual process is color sensation, whose essential percepts are unique (or pure) hues red, yellow, green, blue. Unique hues cannot be described by other hues, but can describe all other hues, e.g., that hue is reddish-blue. They are carried by four opponent chromatic response curves but the literature does not specify whether each curve represents a range of hues or only one hue (a unique) over its wavelength range. Here the latter is demonstrated, confirming that opponent chromatic responses define, and may be termed, unique hue chromatic responses. These psychophysical functions also are an enigma, unmatched with any physiological functions or basis. Here both enigmas are solved by demonstrating the three cone sensitivity curves and the three spectral chromatic response curves are almost identical sets (Pearson correlation coefficients r from 0.95-1.0) in peak wavelengths, curve shapes, math functions, and curve crossover wavelengths, though previously unrecognized due to presentation of curves in different formats, e.g., log, linear. (Red chromatic response curve is largely nonspectral and thus derives from two cones.) Close correlation combined with deterministic causation implies cones are the physiological basis of unique hues. This match of three physiological and three psychophysical functions is unique in color vision.

  16. Uniqueness of human running coordination: The integration of modern and ancient evolutionary innovations

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    John eKiely

    2016-04-01

    Full Text Available Running is a pervasive activity across human cultures and a cornerstone of contemporary health, fitness and sporting activities. Yet for the overwhelming predominance of human existence running was an essential prerequisite for survival. A means to hunt, and a means to escape when hunted. In a very real sense humans have evolved to run. Yet curiously, perhaps due to running’s cultural ubiquity and the natural ease with which we learn to run, we rarely consider the uniqueness of human bipedal running within the animal kingdom. Our unique upright, single stance, bouncing running gait imposes a unique set of coordinative difficulties. Challenges demanding we precariously balance our fragile brains in the very position where they are most vulnerable to falling injury while simultaneously retaining stability, steering direction of travel, and powering the upcoming stride: all within the abbreviated time-frames afforded by short, violent ground contacts separated by long flight times. These running coordination challenges are solved through the tightly-integrated blending of primitive evolutionary legacies, conserved from reptilian and vertebrate lineages, and comparatively modern, more exclusively human, innovations. The integrated unification of these top-down and bottom-up control processes bestows humans with an agile control system, enabling us to readily modulate speeds, change direction, negotiate varied terrains and to instantaneously adapt to changing surface conditions. The seamless integration of these evolutionary processes is facilitated by pervasive, neural and biological, activity-dependent adaptive plasticity. Over time, and with progressive exposure, this adaptive plasticity shapes neural and biological structures to best cope with regularly imposed movement challenges. This pervasive plasticity enables the gradual construction of a robust system of distributed coordinated control, comprised of processes that are so deeply

  17. Revisiting Organizations as Information Processors: Organizational Structure as a Predictor of Noise Filtering

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Fournier, Kevin L

    2008-01-01

    .... The results of the exploration, though mostly inconclusive, call into question both intuition and literature regarding organizational structure as well as literature in information and knowledge sharing...

  18. Use of prosody and information structure in high functioning adults with Autism in relation to language ability

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Anne-Marie R DePape

    2012-03-01

    Full Text Available Abnormal prosody is a striking feature of the speech of those with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD, but previous reports suggest large variability among those with ASD. Here we show that part of this heterogeneity can be explained by level of language functioning. We recorded semi-spontaneous but controlled conversations in adults with and without Autism Spectrum Disorder and measured features related to pitch and duration to determine (1 general use of prosodic features, (2 prosodic use in relation to marking information structure, specifically, the emphasis of new information in a sentence (focus as opposed to information already given in the conversational context (topic, and (3 the relation between prosodic use and level of language function. We found that, compared to typical adults, those with ASD with high language functioning generally used a larger pitch range than controls but did not mark information structure, whereas those with moderate language functioning generally used a smaller pitch range than controls but marked information structure appropriately to a large extent. Both impaired general prosodic use and impaired marking of information structure would be expected to seriously impact social communication and thereby lead to increased difficulty in personal domains, such as making and keeping friendships, and in professional domains, such as competing for employment opportunities.

  19. Investigation of unique hue setting changes with ageing

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    Chenyang Fu; Kaida Xiao; Dimosthenis Karatzas; Sophie Wuerger

    2011-01-01

    Clromatic sensitivity along the protan, deutan, and tritan lines and the loci of the unique hues (red, green,yellow, blue) for a very large sample (n = 185) of colour-normal observers ranging from 18 to 75 years of age are assessed. Visual judgments are obtained under normal viewing conditions using colour patches on self-luminous display under controlled adaptation conditions. Trivector discrimination thresholds show an increase as a function of age along the protan, deutan, and tritan axes, with the largest increase present along the tritan line, less pronounced shifts in unique hue settings are also observed. Based on the chromatic (protan, deutan, tritan) thresholds and using scaled cone signals, we predict the unique hue changes with ageing. A dependency on age for unique red and unique yellow for predicted hue angle is found. We conclude that the chromatic sensitivity deteriorates significantly with age, whereas the appearance of unique hues is much less affected, remaining almost constant despite the known changes in the ocular media.%@@ Clromatic sensitivity along the protan, deutan, and tritan lines and the loci of the unique hues (red, green,yellow, blue) for a very large sample (n = 185) of colour-normal observers ranging from 18 to 75 years of age are assessed.Visual judgments are obtained under normal viewing conditions using colour patches on self-luminous display under controlled adaptation conditions.Trivector discrimination thresholds show an increase as a function of age along the protan, deutan, and tritan axes, with the largest increase present along the tritan line, less pronounced shifts in unique hue settings are also observed.

  20. Towards integrating control and information theories from information-theoretic measures to control performance limitations

    CERN Document Server

    Fang, Song; Ishii, Hideaki

    2017-01-01

    This book investigates the performance limitation issues in networked feedback systems. The fact that networked feedback systems consist of control and communication devices and systems calls for the integration of control theory and information theory. The primary contributions of this book lie in two aspects: the newly-proposed information-theoretic measures and the newly-discovered control performance limitations. We first propose a number of information notions to facilitate the analysis. Using those notions, classes of performance limitations of networked feedback systems, as well as state estimation systems, are then investigated. In general, the book presents a unique, cohesive treatment of performance limitation issues of networked feedback systems via an information-theoretic approach. This book is believed to be the first to treat the aforementioned subjects systematically and in a unified manner, offering a unique perspective differing from existing books.

  1. Instruction in Information Structuring Improves Bayesian Judgment in Intelligence Analysts

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    David R. Mandel

    2015-04-01

    Full Text Available An experiment was conducted to test the effectiveness of brief instruction in information structuring (i.e., representing and integrating information for improving the coherence of probability judgments and binary choices among intelligence analysts. Forty-three analysts were presented with comparable sets of Bayesian judgment problems before and immediately after instruction. After instruction, analysts’ probability judgments were more coherent (i.e., more additive and compliant with Bayes theorem. Instruction also improved the coherence of binary choices regarding category membership: after instruction, subjects were more likely to invariably choose the category to which they assigned the higher probability of a target’s membership. The research provides a rare example of evidence-based validation of effectiveness in instruction to improve the statistical assessment skills of intelligence analysts. Such instruction could also be used to improve the assessment quality of other types of experts who are required to integrate statistical information or make probabilistic assessments.

  2. On the Value of Structural Health Monitoring Information for the Operation of Wind Parks

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Thöns, Sebastian; Faber, Michael H.; Val, Dimitri V.

    2017-01-01

    wind turbine systems and its components is developed accounting for the wind park functionality, i.e. power production, its operation and its cascading damage and failure scenarios. This system model facilitates to quantify the expected benefits and risks throughout the service life accounting......In the present paper, an approach for the quantification of the Value of Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) Information building upon a framework for infrastructure system utility and decision analysis is developed and applied to the operation of wind parks. The quantification of the value of SHM...... facilitates a benefit and risk informed assessment and optimization of SHM strategies and encompasses models for the infrastructure functionality, the structural constituent and system risks and its management as well as the performance of SHM strategies. A wind park system model incorporating the structural...

  3. StraPep: a structure database of bioactive peptides

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Jian; Yin, Tailang; Xiao, Xuwen; He, Dan; Xue, Zhidong; Jiang, Xinnong; Wang, Yan

    2018-01-01

    Abstract Bioactive peptides, with a variety of biological activities and wide distribution in nature, have attracted great research interest in biological and medical fields, especially in pharmaceutical industry. The structural information of bioactive peptide is important for the development of peptide-based drugs. Many databases have been developed cataloguing bioactive peptides. However, to our knowledge, database dedicated to collect all the bioactive peptides with known structure is not available yet. Thus, we developed StraPep, a structure database of bioactive peptides. StraPep holds 3791 bioactive peptide structures, which belong to 1312 unique bioactive peptide sequences. About 905 out of 1312 (68%) bioactive peptides in StraPep contain disulfide bonds, which is significantly higher than that (21%) of PDB. Interestingly, 150 out of 616 (24%) bioactive peptides with three or more disulfide bonds form a structural motif known as cystine knot, which confers considerable structural stability on proteins and is an attractive scaffold for drug design. Detailed information of each peptide, including the experimental structure, the location of disulfide bonds, secondary structure, classification, post-translational modification and so on, has been provided. A wide range of user-friendly tools, such as browsing, sequence and structure-based searching and so on, has been incorporated into StraPep. We hope that this database will be helpful for the research community. Database URL: http://isyslab.info/StraPep PMID:29688386

  4. Supporting the Bronze CastingThrough Information Structuring Based on Ontology application

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Górny Z.

    2014-03-01

    Full Text Available A significant part of the knowledge used in the production processes is represented with natural language. Yet, the use of that knowledge in computer-assisted decision-making requires the application of appropriate formal and development tools. An interesting possibility is created by the use of an ontology that is understandable both for humans and for the computer. This paper presents a proposal for structuring the information about the foundry processes, based on the definition of ontology adapted to the physical structure of the ongoing technological operations that make up the process of producing castings.

  5. University Students' Knowledge Structures and Informal Reasoning on the Use of Genetically Modified Foods: Multidimensional Analyses

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wu, Ying-Tien

    2013-01-01

    This study aims to provide insights into the role of learners' knowledge structures about a socio-scientific issue (SSI) in their informal reasoning on the issue. A total of 42 non-science major university students' knowledge structures and informal reasoning were assessed with multidimensional analyses. With both qualitative and…

  6. Sources semiconductrices de photons uniques ou de photons jumeaux pour l'information quantique

    Science.gov (United States)

    Berger, Vincent; Gérard, Jean-Michel

    2003-07-01

    A large number of scientific proposals in recent years are based on transport and manipulation of information using single quantum objects. Although very impressive theoretical perspectives have been envisaged, experimental demonstrations are still limited due to technological difficulties with present state-of-the-art devices. This paper presents various approaches aiming at efficient single or twin photons semiconductor sources. The emergence of these devices will be an important technological breakthrough in the field of quantum information. To cite this article: V. Berger, J.-M. Gérard, C. R. Physique 4 (2003).

  7. Unique phytochrome responses of the holoparasitic plant Orobanche minor.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Takagi, Kazuteru; Okazawa, Atsushi; Wada, Yu; Mongkolchaiyaphruek, Anchaya; Fukusaki, Eiichiro; Yoneyama, Koichi; Takeuchi, Yasutomo; Kobayashi, Akio

    2009-06-01

    Holoparasitic plants such as Orobanche spp. have lost their photosynthetic ability, so photoresponses to optimize photosynthesis are not necessary in these plants. Photoresponses are also involved in the regulation of plant development but the photoresponses of holoparasites have not been characterized in detail. In this study, the phytochrome (phy)-related photoresponse of Orobanche minor was investigated. Its photoreceptor, phytochrome A (OmphyA), was also characterized. Light effects on germination, shoot elongation, anthocyanin biosynthesis, and OmphyA expression and subcellular localization were analyzed. Red light (R):far-red light (FR) reversible inhibition of O. minor seed germination demonstrated that phy-mediated responses are retained in this holoparasite. Shoot elongation was inhibited by FR but not by R. This pattern is unique among known patterns of plant photoresponses. Additionally, molecular analysis showed that OmphyA is able to respond to the light signals. Interestingly, the unique pattern of photoresponses in O. minor seems to have been modified for adaptation to its parasitic life cycle. We hypothesize that this alteration has resulted from the loss or alteration of some phy-signaling components. Elucidation of altered components in phy signaling in this parasite will provide useful information not only about its physiological characteristics but also about general plant photoreception systems.

  8. Triangle network motifs predict complexes by complementing high-error interactomes with structural information.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Andreopoulos, Bill; Winter, Christof; Labudde, Dirk; Schroeder, Michael

    2009-06-27

    A lot of high-throughput studies produce protein-protein interaction networks (PPINs) with many errors and missing information. Even for genome-wide approaches, there is often a low overlap between PPINs produced by different studies. Second-level neighbors separated by two protein-protein interactions (PPIs) were previously used for predicting protein function and finding complexes in high-error PPINs. We retrieve second level neighbors in PPINs, and complement these with structural domain-domain interactions (SDDIs) representing binding evidence on proteins, forming PPI-SDDI-PPI triangles. We find low overlap between PPINs, SDDIs and known complexes, all well below 10%. We evaluate the overlap of PPI-SDDI-PPI triangles with known complexes from Munich Information center for Protein Sequences (MIPS). PPI-SDDI-PPI triangles have ~20 times higher overlap with MIPS complexes than using second-level neighbors in PPINs without SDDIs. The biological interpretation for triangles is that a SDDI causes two proteins to be observed with common interaction partners in high-throughput experiments. The relatively few SDDIs overlapping with PPINs are part of highly connected SDDI components, and are more likely to be detected in experimental studies. We demonstrate the utility of PPI-SDDI-PPI triangles by reconstructing myosin-actin processes in the nucleus, cytoplasm, and cytoskeleton, which were not obvious in the original PPIN. Using other complementary datatypes in place of SDDIs to form triangles, such as PubMed co-occurrences or threading information, results in a similar ability to find protein complexes. Given high-error PPINs with missing information, triangles of mixed datatypes are a promising direction for finding protein complexes. Integrating PPINs with SDDIs improves finding complexes. Structural SDDIs partially explain the high functional similarity of second-level neighbors in PPINs. We estimate that relatively little structural information would be sufficient

  9. MATHEMATICAL AND INFORMATION SUPPORT FOR CALCULATION AND DESIGN OF TUBE GAS HEATERS LOCATED IN STRUCTURES

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    CHORNOMORETS H. Y.

    2016-02-01

    Full Text Available Raising of problem. For the design and construction of tube gas heaters in building structures to need solve the problems of analysis and synthesis of such heating system. The mathematical model of this system is consists of: mathematical model of the tube gas heater, mathematical model of heat distribution in the building structure and corresponding boundary conditions. To solve the tasks of analysis and synthesis must be appropriate mathematical and information support. Purpose. The purpose of this paper is to describe the developed mathematical and information support that solve the problems of analysis and synthesis of heating systems with gas tube heaters, located in building constructions.Conclusion. Mathematical support includes the development of algorithms and software for the numerical solution of problems analysis and synthesis heating system. Information support includes all the necessary parameters characterizing the thermal properties of materials which used in the heating system, and the parameters characterizing the heat exchange between the coolant and components of the heating system. It was developed algorithms for solving problems of analysis and synthesis heating system with tube gas heater located in structures to use evolutionary search algorithm and software. It was made experimental study and was obtained results allow to calculate the heat transfer from the gas-air mixture to the boundary surface of the building structure. This results and computation will provide full information support for solving problems of analysis and synthesis of the heating system. Was developed mathematical and software support, which allows to solve the problems of analysis and synthesis heating systems with gas tube heaters, located in building structures. Tube gas heaters located in the building structures allows with small capital expenditures to provide space heating. Is necessary to solve the problems of analysis (calculation and

  10. Assessing the value of information for long-term structural health monitoring

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pozzi, Matteo; Der Kiureghian, Armen

    2011-04-01

    In the field of Structural Health Monitoring, tests and sensing systems are intended as tools providing diagnoses, which allow the operator of the facility to develop an efficient maintenance plan or to require extraordinary measures on a structure. The effectiveness of these systems depends directly on their capability to guide towards the most optimal decision for the prevailing circumstances, avoiding mistakes and wastes of resources. Though this is well known, most studies only address the accuracy of the information gained from sensors without discussing economic criteria. Other studies evaluate these criteria separately, with only marginal or heuristic connection with the outcomes of the monitoring system. The concept of "Value of Information" (VoI) provides a rational basis to rank measuring systems according to a utility-based metric, which fully includes the decision-making process affected by the monitoring campaign. This framework allows, for example, an explicit assessment of the economical justifiability of adopting a sensor depending on its precision. In this paper we outline the framework for assessing the VoI, as applicable to the ranking of competitive measuring systems. We present the basic concepts involved, highlight issues related to monitoring of civil structures, address the problem of non-linearity of the cost-to-utility mapping, and introduce an approximate Monte Carlo approach suitable for the implementation of time-consuming predictive models.

  11. Uniqueness conditions for finitely dependent random fields

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dobrushin, R.L.; Pecherski, E.A.

    1981-01-01

    The authors consider a random field for which uniqueness and some additional conditions guaranteeing that the correlations between the variables of the field decrease rapidly enough with the distance between the values of the parameter occur. The main result of the paper states that in such a case uniqueness is true for any other field with transition probabilities sufficiently close to those of the original field. Then they apply this result to some ''degenerate'' classes of random fields for which one can check this condition of correlation to decay, and thus obtain some new conditions of uniqueness. (Auth.)

  12. Laser-induced blurring of molecular structure information in high harmonic spectroscopy

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Risoud, Francois; Leveque, Camille; Labeye, Marie

    2017-01-01

    High harmonic spectroscopy gives access to molecular structure with Angstrom resolution. Such information is encoded in the destructive interferences occurring between the harmonic emissions from the different parts of the molecule. By solving the time-dependent Schrodinger equation, either....... These findings have important consequences for molecular imaging and orbital tomography using high harmonic spectroscopy....

  13. Cone photoreceptor sensitivities and unique hue chromatic responses: correlation and causation imply the physiological basis of unique hues.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ralph W Pridmore

    Full Text Available This paper relates major functions at the start and end of the color vision process. The process starts with three cone photoreceptors transducing light into electrical responses. Cone sensitivities were once expected to be Red Green Blue color matching functions (to mix colors but microspectrometry proved otherwise: they instead peak in yellowish, greenish, and blueish hues. These physiological functions are an enigma, unmatched with any set of psychophysical (behavioral functions. The end-result of the visual process is color sensation, whose essential percepts are unique (or pure hues red, yellow, green, blue. Unique hues cannot be described by other hues, but can describe all other hues, e.g., that hue is reddish-blue. They are carried by four opponent chromatic response curves but the literature does not specify whether each curve represents a range of hues or only one hue (a unique over its wavelength range. Here the latter is demonstrated, confirming that opponent chromatic responses define, and may be termed, unique hue chromatic responses. These psychophysical functions also are an enigma, unmatched with any physiological functions or basis. Here both enigmas are solved by demonstrating the three cone sensitivity curves and the three spectral chromatic response curves are almost identical sets (Pearson correlation coefficients r from 0.95-1.0 in peak wavelengths, curve shapes, math functions, and curve crossover wavelengths, though previously unrecognized due to presentation of curves in different formats, e.g., log, linear. (Red chromatic response curve is largely nonspectral and thus derives from two cones. Close correlation combined with deterministic causation implies cones are the physiological basis of unique hues. This match of three physiological and three psychophysical functions is unique in color vision.

  14. The roles of the RIIβ linker and N-terminal cyclic nucleotide-binding domain in determining the unique structures of the type IIβ protein kinase A: a small angle x-ray and neutron scattering study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Blumenthal, Donald K; Copps, Jeffrey; Smith-Nguyen, Eric V; Zhang, Ping; Heller, William T; Taylor, Susan S

    2014-10-10

    Protein kinase A (PKA) is ubiquitously expressed and is responsible for regulating many important cellular functions in response to changes in intracellular cAMP concentrations. The PKA holoenzyme is a tetramer (R2:C2), with a regulatory subunit homodimer (R2) that binds and inhibits two catalytic (C) subunits; binding of cAMP to the regulatory subunit homodimer causes activation of the catalytic subunits. Four different R subunit isoforms exist in mammalian cells, and these confer different structural features, subcellular localization, and biochemical properties upon the PKA holoenzymes they form. The holoenzyme containing RIIβ is structurally unique in that the type IIβ holoenzyme is much more compact than the free RIIβ homodimer. We have used small angle x-ray scattering and small angle neutron scattering to study the solution structure and subunit organization of a holoenzyme containing an RIIβ C-terminal deletion mutant (RIIβ(1-280)), which is missing the C-terminal cAMP-binding domain to better understand the structural organization of the type IIβ holoenzyme and the RIIβ domains that contribute to stabilizing the holoenzyme conformation. Our results demonstrate that compaction of the type IIβ holoenzyme does not require the C-terminal cAMP-binding domain but rather involves large structural rearrangements within the linker and N-terminal cyclic nucleotide-binding domain of the RIIβ homodimer. The structural rearrangements are significantly greater than seen previously with RIIα and are likely to be important in mediating short range and long range interdomain and intersubunit interactions that uniquely regulate the activity of the type IIβ isoform of PKA. © 2014 by The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc.

  15. Practical relevance of pattern uniqueness in forensic science.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jayaprakash, Paul T

    2013-09-10

    Uniqueness being unprovable, it has recently been argued that individualization in forensic science is irrelevant and, probability, as applied for DNA profiles, should be applied for all identifications. Critiques against uniqueness have omitted physical matching, a realistic and tangible individualization that supports uniqueness. Describing case examples illustrating pattern matches including physical matching, it is indicated that individualizations are practically relevant for forensic science as they establish facts on a definitive basis providing firm leads benefitting criminal investigation. As a tenet of forensic identification, uniqueness forms a fundamental paradigm relevant for individualization. Evidence on the indeterministic and stochastic causal pathways of characteristics in patterns available in the related fields of science sufficiently supports the proposition of uniqueness. Characteristics involved in physical matching and matching achieved in patterned evidence existing in the state of nature are not events amenable for counting; instead these are ensemble of visible units occupying the entire pattern area stretching the probability of re-occurrence of a verisimilitude pattern into infinity offering epistemic support to uniqueness. Observational methods are as respectable as instrumental or statistical methods since they are capable of generating results that are tangible and obviously valid as in physical matching. Applying the probabilistic interpretation used for DNA profiles to the other patterns would be unbefitting since these two are disparate, the causal pathways of the events, the loci, in the manipulated DNA profiles being determinable. While uniqueness enables individualizations, it does not vouch for eliminating errors. Instead of dismissing uniqueness and individualization, accepting errors as human or system failures and seeking remedial measures would benefit forensic science practice and criminal investigation. Copyright © 2013

  16. Risk-informed assessment of degraded containment structures

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Spencer, B.W.; Kunsman, D.M.; Graves, H.L.

    2003-01-01

    As nuclear power plants age, a number of degradation mechanisms may begin to affect the ability of critical containment structures to prevent radiation release during a severe accident. A research program is underway to quantify the effects of various types of containment degradation in a risk-informed manner. In this paper, corrosion is assumed to occur in the liner of a reinforced concrete containment at a 'typical' U.S. pressurized water reactor nuclear power plant, and its effect is investigated. Latin hypercube sampling is used in conjunction with finite element models of a typical steel-lined reinforced concrete containment to generate overpressurization fragilities of the containment with and without corrosion. An existing probabilistic risk assessment model of the plant is then used with these fragilities to determine the increase in risk caused by the corrosion. (author)

  17. Legendre transform structure and extremal properties of the relative Fisher information

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Venkatesan, R.C., E-mail: ravi@systemsresearchcorp.com [Systems Research Corporation, Aundh, Pune 411007 (India); Plastino, A., E-mail: plastino@fisica.unlp.edu.ar [IFLP, National University La Plata and National Research Council (CONICET) C.C., 727 1900 La Plata (Argentina)

    2014-04-01

    Variational extremization of the relative Fisher information (RFI, hereafter) is performed. Reciprocity relations, akin to those of thermodynamics are derived, employing the extremal results of the RFI expressed in terms of probability amplitudes. A time independent Schrödinger-like equation (Schrödinger-like link) for the RFI is derived. The concomitant Legendre transform structure (LTS, hereafter) is developed by utilizing a generalized RFI-Euler theorem, which shows that the entire mathematical structure of thermodynamics translates into the RFI framework, both for equilibrium and non-equilibrium cases. The qualitatively distinct nature of the present results vis-á-vis those of prior studies utilizing the Shannon entropy and/or the Fisher information measure (FIM, hereafter) is discussed. A principled relationship between the RFI and the FIM frameworks is derived. The utility of this relationship is demonstrated by an example wherein the energy eigenvalues of the Schrödinger-like link for the RFI are inferred solely using the quantum mechanical virial theorem and the LTS of the RFI.

  18. Nature inspired capacitive sensor with unique and unclonable characteristic

    Science.gov (United States)

    Karuthedath, C. B.; Schwesinger, N.

    2018-02-01

    Background of this paper is the development of sensors showing a nature like characteristic. The sensor is able to detect excitations on inertia bases and operates capacitive. It consists of a miniaturized interdigitated electrode structure on a printed circuit board, a flexible and conductive membrane of PDMS located in a certain distance above and a certain number of steel balls fixed on top of the membrane. The steel ball distribution is random and the conductivity of the membrane is not homogeneous across the membrane. Due to this double random distribution, no sensor equals the other, although the external geometry is equal. The overall size of the sensor is 4.7mm x 4.7mm x 1.7mm. Tilt, acceleration or magnetic fields are capable of causing forces on the steel balls and therefore relative movements between the membrane and the electrode structures. Due to this movement, capacity changes of the arrangement are measurable. This paper describes besides the fabrication of conductive membranes the preparation of regarding sensors. Process technology makes cloning of the sensors impossible. Although all process steps are suited for mass production, no sensor equals the other. Measurements with these sensors prove that each sensor reacts differently to the same excitation. Calculations of the Intra-Concordance-Coefficient show the similarity of the sensors for equal excitations. On the other hand, the maximum Inter-Concordance-Coefficient reveals the differences of such sensors very clearly. Such a characteristic, i.e. equal reaction to equal excitation and an output of significantly different signals allows considering each sensor as a unique device. The sensors obviously behave like receptors in natural organisms. These unusual properties of uniqueness and impossibility to clone make the sensors very interesting for highly secure identification demands. In combination with a very simple measurement procedure, the sensors are an attractive hardware base for

  19. Unique in the shopping mall: On the reidentifiability of credit card metadata

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    de Montjoye, Yves-Alexandre; Radaelli, Laura; Singh, Vivek Kumar

    2015-01-01

    . We study 3 months of credit card records for 1.1 million people and show that four spatiotemporal points are enough to uniquely reidentify 90% of individuals. We show that knowing the price of a transaction increases the risk of reidentification by 22%, on average. Finally, we show that even data...... sets that provide coarse information at any or all of the dimensions provide little anonymity and that women are more reidentifiable than men in credit card metadata....

  20. Reconciling disparate information in continuity of care documents: Piloting a system to consolidate structured clinical documents.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hosseini, Masoud; Jones, Josette; Faiola, Anthony; Vreeman, Daniel J; Wu, Huanmei; Dixon, Brian E

    2017-10-01

    Due to the nature of information generation in health care, clinical documents contain duplicate and sometimes conflicting information. Recent implementation of Health Information Exchange (HIE) mechanisms in which clinical summary documents are exchanged among disparate health care organizations can proliferate duplicate and conflicting information. To reduce information overload, a system to automatically consolidate information across multiple clinical summary documents was developed for an HIE network. The system receives any number of Continuity of Care Documents (CCDs) and outputs a single, consolidated record. To test the system, a randomly sampled corpus of 522 CCDs representing 50 unique patients was extracted from a large HIE network. The automated methods were compared to manual consolidation of information for three key sections of the CCD: problems, allergies, and medications. Manual consolidation of 11,631 entries was completed in approximately 150h. The same data were automatically consolidated in 3.3min. The system successfully consolidated 99.1% of problems, 87.0% of allergies, and 91.7% of medications. Almost all of the inaccuracies were caused by issues involving the use of standardized terminologies within the documents to represent individual information entries. This study represents a novel, tested tool for de-duplication and consolidation of CDA documents, which is a major step toward improving information access and the interoperability among information systems. While more work is necessary, automated systems like the one evaluated in this study will be necessary to meet the informatics needs of providers and health systems in the future. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  1. A uniqueness-and-anonymity-preserving remote user authentication scheme for connected health care.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chang, Ya-Fen; Yu, Shih-Hui; Shiao, Ding-Rui

    2013-04-01

    Connected health care provides new opportunities for improving financial and clinical performance. Many connected health care applications such as telecare medicine information system, personally controlled health records system, and patient monitoring have been proposed. Correct and quality care is the goal of connected heath care, and user authentication can ensure the legality of patients. After reviewing authentication schemes for connected health care applications, we find that many of them cannot protect patient privacy such that others can trace users/patients by the transmitted data. And the verification tokens used by these authentication schemes to authenticate users or servers are only password, smart card and RFID tag. Actually, these verification tokens are not unique and easy to copy. On the other hand, biometric characteristics, such as iris, face, voiceprint, fingerprint and so on, are unique, easy to be verified, and hard to be copied. In this paper, a biometrics-based user authentication scheme will be proposed to ensure uniqueness and anonymity at the same time. With the proposed scheme, only the legal user/patient himself/herself can access the remote server, and no one can trace him/her according to transmitted data.

  2. CMD: A Database to Store the Bonding States of Cysteine Motifs with Secondary Structures

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hamed Bostan

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available Computational approaches to the disulphide bonding state and its connectivity pattern prediction are based on various descriptors. One descriptor is the amino acid sequence motifs flanking the cysteine residue motifs. Despite the existence of disulphide bonding information in many databases and applications, there is no complete reference and motif query available at the moment. Cysteine motif database (CMD is the first online resource that stores all cysteine residues, their flanking motifs with their secondary structure, and propensity values assignment derived from the laboratory data. We extracted more than 3 million cysteine motifs from PDB and UniProt data, annotated with secondary structure assignment, propensity value assignment, and frequency of occurrence and coefficiency of their bonding status. Removal of redundancies generated 15875 unique flanking motifs that are always bonded and 41577 unique patterns that are always nonbonded. Queries are based on the protein ID, FASTA sequence, sequence motif, and secondary structure individually or in batch format using the provided APIs that allow remote users to query our database via third party software and/or high throughput screening/querying. The CMD offers extensive information about the bonded, free cysteine residues, and their motifs that allows in-depth characterization of the sequence motif composition.

  3. Toward 3D structural information from quantitative electron exit wave analysis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Borisenko, Konstantin B; Moldovan, Grigore; Kirkland, Angus I; Wang, Amy; Van Dyck, Dirk; Chen, Fu-Rong

    2012-01-01

    Simulations show that using a new direct imaging detector and accurate exit wave restoration algorithms allows nearly quantitative restoration of electron exit wave phase, which can be regarded as only qualitative for conventional indirect imaging cameras. This opens up a possibility of extracting accurate information on 3D atomic structure of the sample even from a single projection.

  4. Application of information technology in the process analysis of structural subdivisions of light industry enterprises

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Тарана Тахир кызы Мусаева

    2016-02-01

    Full Text Available The problems of application of information technologies in the process analysis of structural subdivisions of the enterprises of light industry enterprises are considered. For the functional cost analysis in the company it was prepared a computerized structure of the workplace and its principle of operation is described. The functionality of the computerized workplace is tested for textile enterprises. The results showed that the use of information technology has good prospects at the implementation of the quality management system at the textile enterprises

  5. Unique sail-like structure of cor triatriatum dexter in three-dimensional echocardiogram.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Low, Ting Ting; Uy, Celia Catherine C; Wong, Raymond Ching Chiew

    2014-08-01

    Cor triatriatum dexter (CTD) is an extremely rare congenital condition arising from the persistence of the right valve of the sinus venosus. It divides the right atrium (RA) into 2 separate chambers. We report a case of a 50-year-old man who had an incidental finding of CTD on transesophageal echocardiogram. An incomplete membrane of the RA was seen, and three-dimensional echocardiogram delineated the structure clearly as a triangular sail-like structure with multiple orifices and a fenestration. © 2013, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  6. Market structure and the role of consumer information in the physician services industry: an empirical test.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wong, H S

    1996-04-01

    This paper applies Panzar and Rosse's (1987) econometric test of market structure to examine two long-debated issues: What is the market structure for physician services? Do more physicians in a market area raise the search cost of obtaining consumer information and increase prices (Satterthwaite, 1979, 1985)? For primary care and general and family practice physicians, the monopolistically competitive model prevailed over the competing hypotheses--monopoly, perfect competition, and monopolistic competition characterized by consumer informational confusion. Although less conclisive, there is some evidence to support the monopolistically competitive model for surgeons and the consumer informational confusion model for internal medicine physicians.

  7. Structure and shear response of lipid monolayers

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dutta, P.; Ketterson, J.B.

    1990-02-01

    Organic monolayers and multilayers are both scientifically fascinating and technologically promising; they are, however, both complex systems and relatively inaccessible to experimental probes. In this Progress Report, we describe our X-ray diffraction studies, which have given us substantial new information about the structures and phase transitions in monolayers on the surface of water; our use of these monolayers as a unique probe of the dynamics of wetting and spreading; and our studies of monolayer mechanical properties using a simple but effective technique available to anyone using the Wilhelmy method to measure surface tension

  8. Human uniqueness-self-interest and social cooperation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Okada, Daijiro; Bingham, Paul M

    2008-07-21

    Humans are unique among all species of terrestrial history in both ecological dominance and individual properties. Many, or perhaps all, of the unique elements of this nonpareil status can be plausibly interpreted as evolutionary and strategic elements and consequences of the unprecedented intensity and scale of our social cooperation. Convincing explanation of this unique human social adaptation remains a central, unmet challenge to the scientific enterprise. We develop a hypothesis for the ancestral origin of expanded cooperative social behavior. Specifically, we present a game theoretic analysis demonstrating that a specific pattern of expanded social cooperation between conspecific individuals with conflicts of interest (including non-kin) can be strategically viable, but only in animals that possess a highly unusual capacity for conspecific violence (credible threat) having very specific properties that dramatically reduce the costs of coercive violence. The resulting reduced costs allow preemptive or compensated coercion to be an instantaneously self-interested behavior under diverse circumstances rather than in rare, idiosyncratic circumstances as in actors (animals) who do not have access to inexpensive coercive threat. Humans are apparently unique among terrestrial organisms in having evolved conspecific coercive capabilities that fulfill these stringent requirements. Thus, our results support the proposal that access to a novel capacity for projection of coercive threat might represent the essential initiating event for the evolution of a human-like pattern of social cooperation and the subsequent evolution of the diverse features of human uniqueness. Empirical evidence indicates that these constraints were, in fact, met only in our evolutionary lineage. The logic for the emergence of uniquely human cooperation suggested by our analysis apparently accounts simply for the human fossil record.

  9. Mast Cells Produce a Unique Chondroitin Sulfate Epitope.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Farrugia, Brooke L; Whitelock, John M; O'Grady, Robert; Caterson, Bruce; Lord, Megan S

    2016-02-01

    The granules of mast cells contain a myriad of mediators that are stored and protected by the sulfated glycosaminoglycan (GAG) chains that decorate proteoglycans. Whereas heparin is the GAG predominantly associated with mast cells, mast cell proteoglycans are also decorated with heparan sulfate and chondroitin sulfate (CS). This study investigated a unique CS structure produced by mast cells that was detected with the antibody clone 2B6 in the absence of chondroitinase ABC digestion. Mast cells in rodent tissue sections were characterized using toluidine blue, Leder stain and the presence of mast cell tryptase. The novel CS epitope was identified in rodent tissue sections and localized to cells that were morphologically similar to cells chemically identified as mast cells. The rodent mast cell-like line RBL-2H3 was also shown to express the novel CS epitope. This epitope co-localized with multiple CS proteoglycans in both rodent tissue and RBL-2H3 cultured cells. These findings suggest that the novel CS epitope that decorates mast cell proteoglycans may play a role in the way these chains are structured in mast cells. © 2016 The Histochemical Society.

  10. Protein Function Prediction Based on Sequence and Structure Information

    KAUST Repository

    Smaili, Fatima Z.

    2016-05-25

    The number of available protein sequences in public databases is increasing exponentially. However, a significant fraction of these sequences lack functional annotation which is essential to our understanding of how biological systems and processes operate. In this master thesis project, we worked on inferring protein functions based on the primary protein sequence. In the approach we follow, 3D models are first constructed using I-TASSER. Functions are then deduced by structurally matching these predicted models, using global and local similarities, through three independent enzyme commission (EC) and gene ontology (GO) function libraries. The method was tested on 250 “hard” proteins, which lack homologous templates in both structure and function libraries. The results show that this method outperforms the conventional prediction methods based on sequence similarity or threading. Additionally, our method could be improved even further by incorporating protein-protein interaction information. Overall, the method we use provides an efficient approach for automated functional annotation of non-homologous proteins, starting from their sequence.

  11. Constructing Dense Graphs with Unique Hamiltonian Cycles

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lynch, Mark A. M.

    2012-01-01

    It is not difficult to construct dense graphs containing Hamiltonian cycles, but it is difficult to generate dense graphs that are guaranteed to contain a unique Hamiltonian cycle. This article presents an algorithm for generating arbitrarily large simple graphs containing "unique" Hamiltonian cycles. These graphs can be turned into dense graphs…

  12. Statistical Inference on Memory Structure of Processes and Its Applications to Information Theory

    Science.gov (United States)

    2016-05-12

    Distribution Unlimited UU UU UU UU 12-05-2016 15-May-2014 14-Feb-2015 Final Report: Statistical Inference on Memory Structure of Processes and Its Applications ...ES) U.S. Army Research Office P.O. Box 12211 Research Triangle Park, NC 27709-2211 mathematical statistics ; time series; Markov chains; random...journals: Final Report: Statistical Inference on Memory Structure of Processes and Its Applications to Information Theory Report Title Three areas

  13. Uniqueness plots: A simple graphical tool for identifying poor peak fits in X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Singh, Bhupinder; Diwan, Anubhav; Jain, Varun; Herrera-Gomez, Alberto; Terry, Jeff; Linford, Matthew R.

    2016-11-01

    Peak fitting is an essential part of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) narrow scan analysis, and the Literature contains both good and bad examples of peak fitting. A common cause of poor peak fitting is the inclusion of too many fit parameters, often without a sound chemical and/or physical basis for them, and/or the failure to reasonably constrain them. Under these conditions, fit parameters are often correlated, and therefore lacking in statistical meaning. Here we introduce the uniqueness plot as a simple graphical tool for identifying bad peak fits in XPS, i.e., fit parameter correlation. These plots are widely used in spectroscopic ellipsometry. We illustrate uniqueness plots with two data sets: a C 1s narrow scan from ozone-treated carbon nanotube forests and an Si 2p narrow scan from an air-oxidized silicon wafer. For each fit, we consider different numbers of parameters and constraints on them. As expected, the uniqueness plots are parabolic when fewer fit parameters and/or more constraints are applied. However, they fan out and eventually become horizontal lines as more unconstrained parameters are included in the fits. Uniqueness plots are generated by plotting the chi squared (χ2) value for a fit vs. a systematically varied value of a parameter in the fit. The Abbe criterion is also considered as a figure of merit for uniqueness plots in the Supporting Information. We recommend that uniqueness plots be used by XPS practitioners for identifying inappropriate peak fits.

  14. The Structure of the Enterprise’s Information Potential in the Context of Carrying out Strategic Analysis

    OpenAIRE

    Saukh Iryna V.

    2017-01-01

    The article is aimed at studying the structure of the enterprise’s information potential, evaluating its subsystems and the depth of strategic analysis based on the level of strategic uncertainty. It has been proven that information potential as a system includes the subsystem of incoming strategic information; the subsystem of evaluation of the information received; the subsystem for processing and transmission of strategic information. An assessment of the level of information saturation of...

  15. Exact Partial Information Decompositions for Gaussian Systems Based on Dependency Constraints

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jim W. Kay

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available The Partial Information Decomposition, introduced by Williams P. L. et al. (2010, provides a theoretical framework to characterize and quantify the structure of multivariate information sharing. A new method ( I dep has recently been proposed by James R. G. et al. (2017 for computing a two-predictor partial information decomposition over discrete spaces. A lattice of maximum entropy probability models is constructed based on marginal dependency constraints, and the unique information that a particular predictor has about the target is defined as the minimum increase in joint predictor-target mutual information when that particular predictor-target marginal dependency is constrained. Here, we apply the I dep approach to Gaussian systems, for which the marginally constrained maximum entropy models are Gaussian graphical models. Closed form solutions for the I dep PID are derived for both univariate and multivariate Gaussian systems. Numerical and graphical illustrations are provided, together with practical and theoretical comparisons of the I dep PID with the minimum mutual information partial information decomposition ( I mmi , which was discussed by Barrett A. B. (2015. The results obtained using I dep appear to be more intuitive than those given with other methods, such as I mmi , in which the redundant and unique information components are constrained to depend only on the predictor-target marginal distributions. In particular, it is proved that the I mmi method generally produces larger estimates of redundancy and synergy than does the I dep method. In discussion of the practical examples, the PIDs are complemented by the use of tests of deviance for the comparison of Gaussian graphical models.

  16. Unique Fock quantization of scalar cosmological perturbations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fernández-Méndez, Mikel; Mena Marugán, Guillermo A.; Olmedo, Javier; Velhinho, José M.

    2012-05-01

    We investigate the ambiguities in the Fock quantization of the scalar perturbations of a Friedmann-Lemaître-Robertson-Walker model with a massive scalar field as matter content. We consider the case of compact spatial sections (thus avoiding infrared divergences), with the topology of a three-sphere. After expanding the perturbations in series of eigenfunctions of the Laplace-Beltrami operator, the Hamiltonian of the system is written up to quadratic order in them. We fix the gauge of the local degrees of freedom in two different ways, reaching in both cases the same qualitative results. A canonical transformation, which includes the scaling of the matter-field perturbations by the scale factor of the geometry, is performed in order to arrive at a convenient formulation of the system. We then study the quantization of these perturbations in the classical background determined by the homogeneous variables. Based on previous work, we introduce a Fock representation for the perturbations in which: (a) the complex structure is invariant under the isometries of the spatial sections and (b) the field dynamics is implemented as a unitary operator. These two properties select not only a unique unitary equivalence class of representations, but also a preferred field description, picking up a canonical pair of field variables among all those that can be obtained by means of a time-dependent scaling of the matter field (completed into a linear canonical transformation). Finally, we present an equivalent quantization constructed in terms of gauge-invariant quantities. We prove that this quantization can be attained by a mode-by-mode time-dependent linear canonical transformation which admits a unitary implementation, so that it is also uniquely determined.

  17. On the Information in the Interest Rate Term Structure and Option Prices

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    de Jong, F.; Driessen, J.; Pelsser, A.

    2004-01-01

    We examine whether the information in cap and swaption prices is consistent with realized movements of the interest rate term structure. To extract an option-implied interest rate covariance matrix from cap and swaption prices, we use Libor market models as a modelling framework. We propose a

  18. Information structure in Russian Sign Language and Sign Language of the Netherlands

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Kimmelman, V.

    2014-01-01

    This dissertation explores Information Structure in two sign languages: Sign Language of the Netherlands and Russian Sign Language. Based on corpus data and elicitation tasks we show how topic and focus are expressed in these languages. In particular, we show that topics can be marked syntactically

  19. Unique mosaicism of structural chromosomal rearrangement: is chromosome 18 preferentially involved?

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Pater, J.M. de; Smeets, D.F.C.M.; Scheres, J.M.J.C.

    2003-01-01

    The mentally normal mother of a 4-year-old boy with del(18)(q21.3) syndrome was tested cytogenetically to study the possibility of an inherited structural rearrangement of chromosome 18. She was found to carry an unusual mosaicism involving chromosomes 18 and 21. Two unbalanced cell lines were seen

  20. Novel criteria of uniqueness for signal reconstruction from phase

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Ma, C.

    1991-01-01

    An approach for ascertaining whether a signal is uniquely determined by its Fourier transform phase is proposed. It is shown that uniqueness corresponds to the nonsingularity of a matrix which can be formed from the finite-length real sequence. The criterion of uniqueness for reconstructing a

  1. Optimal physiological structure of small neurons to guarantee stable information processing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zeng, S. Y.; Zhang, Z. Z.; Wei, D. Q.; Luo, X. S.; Tang, W. Y.; Zeng, S. W.; Wang, R. F.

    2013-02-01

    Spike is the basic element for neuronal information processing and the spontaneous spiking frequency should be less than 1 Hz for stable information processing. If the neuronal membrane area is small, the frequency of neuronal spontaneous spiking caused by ion channel noise may be high. Therefore, it is important to suppress the deleterious spontaneous spiking of the small neurons. We find by simulation of stochastic neurons with Hodgkin-Huxley-type channels that the leakage system is critical and extremely efficient to suppress the spontaneous spiking and guarantee stable information processing of the small neurons. However, within the physiological limit the potassium system cannot do so. The suppression effect of the leakage system is super-exponential, but that of the potassium system is quasi-linear. With the minor physiological cost and the minimal consumption of metabolic energy, a slightly lower reversal potential and a relatively larger conductance of the leakage system give the optimal physiological structure to suppress the deleterious spontaneous spiking and guarantee stable information processing of small neurons, dendrites and axons.

  2. Structures of two cell wall-associated polysaccharides of a Streptococcus mitis biovar 1 strain. A unique teichoic acid-like polysaccharide and the group O antigen which is a C-polysaccharide in common with pneumococci

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bergström, N; Jansson, P.-E.; Kilian, Mogens

    2000-01-01

    The cell wall of Streptococcus mitis biovar 1 strain SK137 contains the C-polysaccharide known as the common antigen of a closely related species Streptococcus pneumoniae, and a teichoic acid-like polysaccharide with a unique structure. The two polysaccharides are different entities and could...... be partially separated by gel chromatography. The structures of the two polysaccharides were determined by chemical methods and by NMR spectroscopy. The teichoic acid-like polymer has a heptasaccharide phosphate repeating unit with the following structure: The structure neither contains ribitol nor glycerol...... phosphate as classical teichoic acids do, thus we have used the expression teichoic acid-like for this polysaccharide. The following structure of the C-polysaccharide repeating unit was established: where AAT is 2-acetamido-4-amino-2,4, 6-trideoxy-D-galactose. It has a carbohydrate backbone identical...

  3. Working With Refugees in the U.S.: Trauma-Informed and Structurally Competent Social Work Approaches

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jason Ostrander

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available Social workers, government, and non-governmental organizations in the United States have been inadequately prepared to address the impact of trauma faced by refugees fleeing persecution. Compounding their initial trauma experiences, refugees often undergo further traumatic migration experiences and challenges after resettlement that can have long-lasting effects on their health and mental health. Micro and macro social work practitioners must understand the impact of these experiences in order to promote policies, social work training, and clinical practice that further the health and well-being of refugees and society. Social workers are in a unique position to provide multi-dimensional, structurally competent care and advocacy for diverse refugee populations. The experiences of Cambodian refugees will be used to examine these issues. We will explore the benefits of an ecological perspective in guiding interventions that support refugees, and will apply the framework of structural competence to highlight multidimensional implications for social work with refugee populations.

  4. Origin of life. Primordial genetics: Information transfer in a pre-RNA world based on self-replicating beta-sheet amyloid conformers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maury, Carl Peter J

    2015-10-07

    The question of the origin of life on Earth can largely be reduced to the question of what was the first molecular replicator system that was able to replicate and evolve under the presumably very harsh conditions on the early Earth. It is unlikely that a functional RNA could have existed under such conditions and it is generally assumed that some other kind of information system preceded the RNA world. Here, I present an informational molecular system that is stable, self-replicative, environmentally responsive, and evolvable under conditions characterized by high temperatures, ultraviolet and cosmic radiation. This postulated pregenetic system is based on the amyloid fold, a functionally unique polypeptide fold characterized by a cross beta-sheet structure in which the beta strands are arranged perpendicular to the fiber axis. Beside an extraordinary structural robustness, the amyloid fold possesses a unique ability to transmit information by a three-dimensional templating mechanism. In amyloidogenesis short peptide monomers are added one by one to the growing end of the fiber. From the same monomeric subunits several structural variants of amyloid may be formed. Then, in a self-replicative mode, a specific amyloid conformer can act as a template and confer its spatially encoded information to daughter molecular entities in a repetitive way. In this process, the specific conformational information, the spatially changed organization, is transmitted; the coding element is the steric zipper structure, and recognition occurs by amino acid side chain complementarity. The amyloid information system fulfills several basic requirements of a primordial evolvable replicator system: (i) it is stable under the presumed primitive Earth conditions, (ii) the monomeric building blocks of the informational polymer can be formed from available prebiotic compounds, (iii) the system is self-assembling and self-replicative and (iv) it is adaptive to changes in the environment and

  5. Eugenics and Mandatory Informed Prenatal Genetic Testing: A Unique Perspective from China.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Di; Ng, Vincent H; Wang, Zhaochen; Zhai, Xiaomei; Lie, Reidar K

    2016-08-01

    The application of genetic technologies in China, especially in the area of prenatal genetic testing, is rapidly increasing in China. In the wealthy regions of China, prenatal genetic testing is already very widely adopted. We argue that the government should actively promote prenatal genetic testing to the poor areas of the country. In fact, the government should prioritize resources first to make prenatal genetic testing a standard routine care with an opt-out model in these area. Healthcare professions would be required to inform pregnant women about the availability of genetic testing and provide free testing on a routine basis unless the parents choose not to do so. We argue that this proposal will allow parents to make a more informed decision about their reproductive choices. Secondarily, this proposal will attract more healthcare professionals and other healthcare resources to improve the healthcare infrastructures in the less-developed regions of the country. This will help to reduce the inequity of accessing healthcare services between in different regions of China. We further argue that this policy proposal is not practicing eugenics. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  6. Crystal structure of inactive form of Rab3B

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhang, Wei; Shen, Yang; Jiao, Ronghong; Liu, Yanli; Deng, Lingfu; Qi, Chao

    2012-01-01

    Highlights: ► This is the first structural information of human Rab3B. ► To provides a structural basis for the GDP/GTP switch in controlling the activity of Rab3. ► The charge distribution of Rab3B indicates its unique roles in vesicular trafficking. -- Abstract: Rab proteins are the largest family of ras-related GTPases in eukaryotic cells. They act as directional molecular switches at membrane trafficking, including vesicle budding, cargo sorting, transport, tethering, and fusion. Here, we generated and crystallized the Rab3B:GDP complex. The structure of the complex was solved to 1.9 Å resolution and the structural base comparison with other Rab3 members provides a structural basis for the GDP/GTP switch in controlling the activity of small GTPase. The comparison of charge distribution among the members of Rab3 also indicates their different roles in vesicular trafficking.

  7. Methodology for Simulation and Analysis of Complex Adaptive Supply Network Structure and Dynamics Using Information Theory

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Joshua Rodewald

    2016-10-01

    Full Text Available Supply networks existing today in many industries can behave as complex adaptive systems making them more difficult to analyze and assess. Being able to fully understand both the complex static and dynamic structures of a complex adaptive supply network (CASN are key to being able to make more informed management decisions and prioritize resources and production throughout the network. Previous efforts to model and analyze CASN have been impeded by the complex, dynamic nature of the systems. However, drawing from other complex adaptive systems sciences, information theory provides a model-free methodology removing many of those barriers, especially concerning complex network structure and dynamics. With minimal information about the network nodes, transfer entropy can be used to reverse engineer the network structure while local transfer entropy can be used to analyze the network structure’s dynamics. Both simulated and real-world networks were analyzed using this methodology. Applying the methodology to CASNs allows the practitioner to capitalize on observations from the highly multidisciplinary field of information theory which provides insights into CASN’s self-organization, emergence, stability/instability, and distributed computation. This not only provides managers with a more thorough understanding of a system’s structure and dynamics for management purposes, but also opens up research opportunities into eventual strategies to monitor and manage emergence and adaption within the environment.

  8. Unique neurobiology during the sensitive period for attachment produces distinctive infant trauma processing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Opendak, Maya; Sullivan, Regina M.

    2016-01-01

    Background Trauma has neurobehavioral effects when experienced at any stage of development, but trauma experienced in early life has unique neurobehavioral outcomes related to later life psychiatric sequelae. Recent evidence has further highlighted the context of infant trauma as a critical variable in determining its immediate and enduring consequences. Trauma experienced from an attachment figure, such as occurs in cases of caregiver child maltreatment, is particularly detrimental. Methods Using data primarily from rodent models, we review the literature on the interaction between trauma and attachment in early life, which highlights the role of the caregiver’s presence in engagement of attachment brain circuitry and suppressing threat processing by the amygdala. We then consider how trauma with and without the caregiver produces long-term changes in emotionality and behavior, and suggest that these experiences initiate distinct pathways to pathology. Results Together these data suggest that infant trauma processing and its enduring effects are impacted by both the immaturity of brain areas for processing trauma and the unique functioning of the early-life brain, which is biased toward processing information within the attachment circuitry. Conclusion An understanding of developmental differences in trauma processing as well as the critical role of the caregiver in further altering early life brain processing of trauma is important for developing age-relevant treatment and interventions. Highlights of this article Trauma experienced in early life has been linked with life-long outcomes for mental health through a mechanism that remains unclear. Trauma experienced in the presence of a caregiver has unique consequences. The infant brain is predisposed toward processing information using attachment circuitry rather than threat circuitry. Data from rodent models suggest that repeated trauma in the presence of a caregiver prematurely engages brain areas important

  9. Triangle network motifs predict complexes by complementing high-error interactomes with structural information

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Labudde Dirk

    2009-06-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background A lot of high-throughput studies produce protein-protein interaction networks (PPINs with many errors and missing information. Even for genome-wide approaches, there is often a low overlap between PPINs produced by different studies. Second-level neighbors separated by two protein-protein interactions (PPIs were previously used for predicting protein function and finding complexes in high-error PPINs. We retrieve second level neighbors in PPINs, and complement these with structural domain-domain interactions (SDDIs representing binding evidence on proteins, forming PPI-SDDI-PPI triangles. Results We find low overlap between PPINs, SDDIs and known complexes, all well below 10%. We evaluate the overlap of PPI-SDDI-PPI triangles with known complexes from Munich Information center for Protein Sequences (MIPS. PPI-SDDI-PPI triangles have ~20 times higher overlap with MIPS complexes than using second-level neighbors in PPINs without SDDIs. The biological interpretation for triangles is that a SDDI causes two proteins to be observed with common interaction partners in high-throughput experiments. The relatively few SDDIs overlapping with PPINs are part of highly connected SDDI components, and are more likely to be detected in experimental studies. We demonstrate the utility of PPI-SDDI-PPI triangles by reconstructing myosin-actin processes in the nucleus, cytoplasm, and cytoskeleton, which were not obvious in the original PPIN. Using other complementary datatypes in place of SDDIs to form triangles, such as PubMed co-occurrences or threading information, results in a similar ability to find protein complexes. Conclusion Given high-error PPINs with missing information, triangles of mixed datatypes are a promising direction for finding protein complexes. Integrating PPINs with SDDIs improves finding complexes. Structural SDDIs partially explain the high functional similarity of second-level neighbors in PPINs. We estimate that

  10. Creativity and technical innovation: spatial ability's unique role.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kell, Harrison J; Lubinski, David; Benbow, Camilla P; Steiger, James H

    2013-09-01

    In the late 1970s, 563 intellectually talented 13-year-olds (identified by the SAT as in the top 0.5% of ability) were assessed on spatial ability. More than 30 years later, the present study evaluated whether spatial ability provided incremental validity (beyond the SAT's mathematical and verbal reasoning subtests) for differentially predicting which of these individuals had patents and three classes of refereed publications. A two-step discriminant-function analysis revealed that the SAT subtests jointly accounted for 10.8% of the variance among these outcomes (p development of creativity, beyond the roles played by the abilities traditionally measured in educational selection, counseling, and industrial-organizational psychology. Spatial ability plays a key and unique role in structuring many important psychological phenomena and should be examined more broadly across the applied and basic psychological sciences.

  11. An approach to knowledge structuring for advanced phases of the Technical and Management Information System (TMIS)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Goranson, H. T.

    1986-01-01

    The Technical and Management Information System (TMIS) must employ on enlightened approach to its object structure, but basic issues in conceptual structuring remain to be resolved. Sirius outlines the necessary agenda and reports on progress toward solutions.

  12. Information Security: A Scientometric Study of the Profile, Structure, and Dynamics of an Emerging Scholarly Specialty

    Science.gov (United States)

    Olijnyk, Nicholas Victor

    2014-01-01

    The central aim of the current research is to explore and describe the profile, dynamics, and structure of the information security specialty. This study's objectives are guided by four research questions: 1. What are the salient features of information security as a specialty? 2. How has the information security specialty emerged and evolved from…

  13. Non-Born-Oppenheimer electronic and nuclear densities for a Hooke-Calogero three-particle model: non-uniqueness of density-derived molecular structure.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ludeña, E V; Echevarría, L; Lopez, X; Ugalde, J M

    2012-02-28

    We consider the calculation of non-Born-Oppenheimer, nBO, one-particle densities for both electrons and nuclei. We show that the nBO one-particle densities evaluated in terms of translationally invariant coordinates are independent of the wavefunction describing the motion of center of mass of the whole system. We show that they depend, however, on an arbitrary reference point from which the positions of the vectors labeling the particles are determined. We examine the effect that this arbitrary choice has on the topology of the one-particle density by selecting the Hooke-Calogero model of a three-body system for which expressions for the one-particle densities can be readily obtained in analytic form. We extend this analysis to the one-particle densities obtained from full Coulomb interaction wavefunctions for three-body systems. We conclude, in view of the fact that there is a close link between the choice of the reference point and the topology of one-particle densities that the molecular structure inferred from the topology of these densities is not unique. We analyze the behavior of one-particle densities for the Hooke-Calogero Born-Oppenheimer, BO, wavefunction and show that topological transitions are also present in this case for a particular mass value of the light particles even though in the BO regime the nuclear masses are infinite. In this vein, we argue that the change in topology caused by variation of the mass ratio between light and heavy particles does not constitute a true indication in the nBO regime of the emergence of molecular structure.

  14. The dream: a psychodynamically informative instrument.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Glucksman, M L

    2001-01-01

    The dream is a unique psychodynamically informative instrument for evaluating the subjective correlates of brain activity during REM sleep. These include feelings, percepts, memories, wishes, fantasies, impulses, conflicts, and defenses, as well as images of self and others. Dream analysis can be used in a variety of clinical settings to assist in diagnostic assessment, psychodynamic formulation, evaluation of clinical change, and the management of medically ill patients. Dreams may serve as the initial indicators of transference, resistance, impending crisis, acting-out, conflict resolution, and decision-making. A clinically functional categorization of dreams can facilitate an understanding of psychopathology, psychodynamics, personality structure, and various components of the psychotherapeutic process. Examples of different types of dreams are provided to illustrate their relevance and use in various clinical situations.

  15. Accurate facade feature extraction method for buildings from three-dimensional point cloud data considering structural information

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Yongzhi; Ma, Yuqing; Zhu, A.-xing; Zhao, Hui; Liao, Lixia

    2018-05-01

    Facade features represent segmentations of building surfaces and can serve as a building framework. Extracting facade features from three-dimensional (3D) point cloud data (3D PCD) is an efficient method for 3D building modeling. By combining the advantages of 3D PCD and two-dimensional optical images, this study describes the creation of a highly accurate building facade feature extraction method from 3D PCD with a focus on structural information. The new extraction method involves three major steps: image feature extraction, exploration of the mapping method between the image features and 3D PCD, and optimization of the initial 3D PCD facade features considering structural information. Results show that the new method can extract the 3D PCD facade features of buildings more accurately and continuously. The new method is validated using a case study. In addition, the effectiveness of the new method is demonstrated by comparing it with the range image-extraction method and the optical image-extraction method in the absence of structural information. The 3D PCD facade features extracted by the new method can be applied in many fields, such as 3D building modeling and building information modeling.

  16. The study of features of the structural organization of the au-tomated information processing system of the collective type

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nikolaev, V. N.; Titov, D. V.; Syryamkin, V. I.

    2018-05-01

    The comparative assessment of the level of channel capacity of different variants of the structural organization of the automated information processing systems is made. The information processing time assessment model depending on the type of standard elements and their structural organization is developed.

  17. Informal Mealtime Pedagogies: Exploring the Influence of Family Structure on Young People's Healthy Eating Dispositions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Quarmby, Thomas; Dagkas, Symeon

    2015-01-01

    Families are increasingly recognised as informal sites of learning, especially with regard to healthy eating. Through the use of Bourdieu's conceptual tools, this paper explores the role of family meals within different family structures and the informal pedagogic encounters that take place. How they help to construct young people's healthy eating…

  18. Glycan structures contain information for the spatial arrangement of glycoproteins in the plasma membrane.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M Kristen Hall

    Full Text Available Glycoconjugates at the cell surface are crucial for cells to communicate with each other and the extracellular microenvironment. While it is generally accepted that glycans are vectorial biopolymers, their information content is unclear. This report provides evidence that distinct N-glycan structures influence the spatial arrangement of two integral membrane glycoproteins, Kv3.1 and E-cadherin, at the adherent membrane which in turn alter cellular properties. Distinct N-glycan structures were generated by heterologous expression of these glycoproteins in parental and glycosylation mutant Chinese hamster ovary cell lines. Unlike the N-linked glycans, the O-linked glycans of the mutant cell lines are similar to those of the parental cell line. Western and lectin blots of total membranes and GFP immunopurified samples, combined with glycosidase digestion reactions, were employed to verify the glycoproteins had predominantly complex, oligomannose, and bisecting type N-glycans from Pro(-5, Lec1, and Lec10B cell lines, respectively. Based on total internal reflection fluorescence and differential interference contrast microscopy techniques, and cellular assays of live parental and glycosylation mutant CHO cells, we propose that glycoproteins with complex, oligomannose or bisecting type N-glycans relay information for localization of glycoproteins to various regions of the plasma membrane in both a glycan-specific and protein-specific manner, and furthermore cell-cell interactions are required for deciphering much of this information. These distinct spatial arrangements also impact cell adhesion and migration. Our findings provide direct evidence that N-glycan structures of glycoproteins contribute significantly to the information content of cells.

  19. The neuropeptide oxytocin enhances information sharing and group decision making quality

    OpenAIRE

    De, Wilde T.R.W.; Ten, Velden F.S.; De, Dreu C.K.W.

    2017-01-01

    Groups can make better decisions than individuals when members cooperatively exchange and integrate their uniquely held information and insights. However, under conformity pressures group members are biased towards exchanging commonly known information, and away from exchanging unique information, thus undermining group decision-making quality. At the neurobiological level, conformity associates with the neuropeptide oxytocin. A double-blind placebo controlled study found no evidence for oxyt...

  20. Conditional stability and uniqueness for determining two coefficients in a hyperbolic–parabolic system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wu, Bin; Liu, Jijun

    2011-01-01

    We study the inverse problem of determining two spatially varying coefficients in a thermoelastic model with the following observation data: displacement in a subdomain ω satisfying ∂ω superset of ∂Ω along a sufficiently large time interval, both displacement and temperature at a suitable time over the whole spatial domain. Based on a Carleman estimate on the hyperbolic–parabolic system, we prove the Lipschitz stability and the uniqueness for this inverse problem under some a priori information

  1. Electronic structure of atoms: atomic spectroscopy information system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kazakov, V V; Kazakov, V G; Kovalev, V S; Meshkov, O I; Yatsenko, A S

    2017-01-01

    The article presents a Russian atomic spectroscopy, information system electronic structure of atoms (IS ESA) (http://grotrian.nsu.ru), and describes its main features and options to support research and training. The database contains over 234 000 records, great attention paid to experimental data and uniform filling of the database for all atomic numbers Z, including classified levels and transitions of rare earth and transuranic elements and their ions. Original means of visualization of scientific data in the form of spectrograms and Grotrian diagrams have been proposed. Presentation of spectral data in the form of interactive color charts facilitates understanding and analysis of properties of atomic systems. The use of the spectral data of the IS ESA together with its functionality is effective for solving various scientific problems and training of specialists. (paper)

  2. Electronic structure of atoms: atomic spectroscopy information system

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kazakov, V. V.; Kazakov, V. G.; Kovalev, V. S.; Meshkov, O. I.; Yatsenko, A. S.

    2017-10-01

    The article presents a Russian atomic spectroscopy, information system electronic structure of atoms (IS ESA) (http://grotrian.nsu.ru), and describes its main features and options to support research and training. The database contains over 234 000 records, great attention paid to experimental data and uniform filling of the database for all atomic numbers Z, including classified levels and transitions of rare earth and transuranic elements and their ions. Original means of visualization of scientific data in the form of spectrograms and Grotrian diagrams have been proposed. Presentation of spectral data in the form of interactive color charts facilitates understanding and analysis of properties of atomic systems. The use of the spectral data of the IS ESA together with its functionality is effective for solving various scientific problems and training of specialists.

  3. Towards an Ontology of Information and Succeeding Fundamentals in Computing Science

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gerhard Luhn

    2011-10-01

    Full Text Available A common usage of the concept of information requires a unique definition of it. The text expands on a proposal for an ontology of information, which will be grounded in physics. Shannon’s communication theory does not conceptualize any physical variable. It will be shown that by doing so the gap between syntax and semantics can be closed by introducing the universal category of triadic information. Any informational scenario is given by the trias of a a sender, and of b the transformation, which happens to c the receiver. The concept of information is taken in a broader sense, and is based on physical fundaments. The gravitational force which is exploited to a physical body holds in the same sense well defined information as a spontaneous appearance of a new, algorithmically underivable structure or event: the world gets ‘com- pleted’ within a continuous informational process. Any spontaneous process will always happen in order to increase the entropy of the world. That is, such fundamental information, which causes this completion process, is given within our uni- verse. For those reasons we have to state, that information causes any causal process, rather than ‘is’ a causal process. All living species are grounded on an information-receiving, heteronomous deep structure, which includes as well the message which corresponds to further autonomy and freedom (the completion theorem. To summarize, we are enabled to create and to enter into the so called information society by ontological evidence. Based on such foundations, an adequate concept for computer science will be shortly introduced.

  4. YAdumper: extracting and translating large information volumes from relational databases to structured flat files.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fernández, José M; Valencia, Alfonso

    2004-10-12

    Downloading the information stored in relational databases into XML and other flat formats is a common task in bioinformatics. This periodical dumping of information requires considerable CPU time, disk and memory resources. YAdumper has been developed as a purpose-specific tool to deal with the integral structured information download of relational databases. YAdumper is a Java application that organizes database extraction following an XML template based on an external Document Type Declaration. Compared with other non-native alternatives, YAdumper substantially reduces memory requirements and considerably improves writing performance.

  5. Investigating dynamical information transfer in the brain following a TMS pulse: Insights from structural architecture.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Amico, Enrico; Van Mierlo, Pieter; Marinazzo, Daniele; Laureys, Steven

    2015-01-01

    Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) has been used for more than 20 years to investigate connectivity and plasticity in the human cortex. By combining TMS with high-density electroencephalography (hd-EEG), one can stimulate any cortical area and measure the effects produced by this perturbation in the rest of the cerebral cortex. The purpose of this paper is to investigate changes of information flow in the brain after TMS from a functional and structural perspective, using multimodal modeling of source reconstructed TMS/hd-EEG recordings and DTI tractography. We prove how brain dynamics induced by TMS is constrained and driven by its structure, at different spatial and temporal scales, especially when considering cross-frequency interactions. These results shed light on the function-structure organization of the brain network at the global level, and on the huge variety of information contained in it.

  6. Customization: Ideal Varieties, Product Uniqueness and Price Competition

    OpenAIRE

    Oksana Loginova; X. Henry Wang

    2009-01-01

    We study customization in the Hotelling model with two firms. In addition to providing ideal varieties, the perceived uniqueness of a customized product contributes independently to consumer utility. We show that only when consumer preferences for uniqueness are high customization occurs in equilibrium.

  7. Word order and information structure in Czech 3-and 4-year-olds' comprehension.

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Smolík, Filip

    2015-01-01

    Roč. 35, č. 3 (2015), s. 237-253 ISSN 0142-7237 R&D Projects: GA ČR GA13-26779S Institutional support: RVO:68081740 Keywords : Case marking * grammar comprehension * information structure Subject RIV: AN - Psychology Impact factor: 1.254, year: 2015

  8. Formation of a unique cluster of G-quadruplex structures in the HIV-1 Nef coding region: implications for antiviral activity.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rosalba Perrone

    Full Text Available G-quadruplexes are tetraplex structures of nucleic acids that can form in G-rich sequences. Their presence and functional role have been established in telomeres, oncogene promoters and coding regions of the human chromosome. In particular, they have been proposed to be directly involved in gene regulation at the level of transcription. Because the HIV-1 Nef protein is a fundamental factor for efficient viral replication, infectivity and pathogenesis in vitro and in vivo, we investigated G-quadruplex formation in the HIV-1 nef gene to assess the potential for viral inhibition through G-quadruplex stabilization. A comprehensive computational analysis of the nef coding region of available strains showed the presence of three conserved sequences that were uniquely clustered. Biophysical testing proved that G-quadruplex conformations were efficiently stabilized or induced by G-quadruplex ligands in all three sequences. Upon incubation with a G-quadruplex ligand, Nef expression was reduced in a reporter gene assay and Nef-dependent enhancement of HIV-1 infectivity was significantly repressed in an antiviral assay. These data constitute the first evidence of the possibility to regulate HIV-1 gene expression and infectivity through G-quadruplex targeting and therefore open a new avenue for viral treatment.

  9. Can facial uniqueness be inferred from impostor scores?

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Dutta, A.; Veldhuis, Raymond N.J.; Spreeuwers, Lieuwe Jan

    2013-01-01

    In Biometrics, facial uniqueness is commonly inferred from impostor similarity scores. In this paper, we show that such uniqueness measures are highly unstable in the presence of image quality variations like pose, noise and blur. We also experimentally demonstrate the instability of a recently

  10. AMPLIFICATION AND COMPRESSION OF THE TEXT AND ITS TITLE AS A MEANS OF CONVEYING THE INFORMATION STRUCTURE

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Buyanova, E.V.

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available This article takes stock of the basic notions of information structure. There are two communicative goals to satisfy: making the information conveyed by the discourse easier for the reader/hearer to understand; indicating what the enunciator considers to be the most important. When translating from one language into another the information structure in most cases remains unchanged. However the text in the target language may not always be completely clear to the new recipient for a number of reasons, such as social and national differences between speakers of the two languages, or lack of realia in the target language. In this case the information structure needs extension in the form of descriptions, definitions, commentaries. This results either in amplification of the text in the target language or in its compression. The present work is based on an analysis of papers from American and British journals and periodicals. The article also deals with the peculiarities of the metaphor as a means of broader text compression in the titles of newspaper articles.

  11. Information Acquisition and Portfolio Performance

    OpenAIRE

    Guiso, Luigi; Jappelli, Tullio

    2006-01-01

    Rational investors perceive correctly the value of financial information. Investment in information is therefore rewarded with a higher Sharpe ratio. Overconfident investors overstate the quality of their own information, and thus attain a lower Sharpe ratio. We contrast the implications of the two models using a unique survey of customers of an Italian leading bank with portfolio data and measures of financial information. We find that the portfolio Sharpe ratio is negatively associated with...

  12. Kosovo case: A unique arbitrariness

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nakarada Radmila

    2007-01-01

    Full Text Available The end of Cold war, contrary to expectations has brought new conflicts and forms of violence, new divisions and new relativizations of the international legal order. Taking as an example the endeavors to resolve the Kosovo conflict, the author attempts to indicate the broader implications of the international efforts to constitute an independent state on part of the territory of an existing sovereign state. The arguments used to justify the redefinition of the borders of the Serbian state without its consent, the moral, democratic, peace arguments, are reviewed. Particular attention is paid to the argument that Kosovo is a unique case and therefore unique rules should be applied. The author seeks to understand the deeper significance of these efforts, concluding that dismantling the present international legal order is not only a potential danger but a possible aim.

  13. Interactions of information transfer along separable causal paths

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jiang, Peishi; Kumar, Praveen

    2018-04-01

    Complex systems arise as a result of interdependences between multiple variables, whose causal interactions can be visualized in a time-series graph. Transfer entropy and information partitioning approaches have been used to characterize such dependences. However, these approaches capture net information transfer occurring through a multitude of pathways involved in the interaction and as a result mask our ability to discern the causal interaction within a subgraph of interest through specific pathways. We build on recent developments of momentary information transfer along causal paths proposed by Runge [Phys. Rev. E 92, 062829 (2015), 10.1103/PhysRevE.92.062829] to develop a framework for quantifying information partitioning along separable causal paths. Momentary information transfer along causal paths captures the amount of information transfer between any two variables lagged at two specific points in time. Our approach expands this concept to characterize the causal interaction in terms of synergistic, unique, and redundant information transfer through separable causal paths. Through a graphical model, we analyze the impact of the separable and nonseparable causal paths and the causality structure embedded in the graph as well as the noise effect on information partitioning by using synthetic data generated from two coupled logistic equation models. Our approach can provide a valuable reference for an autonomous information partitioning along separable causal paths which form a causal subgraph influencing a target.

  14. Computational structural mechanics for engine structures

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chamis, C. C.

    1989-01-01

    The computational structural mechanics (CSM) program at Lewis encompasses: (1) fundamental aspects for formulating and solving structural mechanics problems, and (2) development of integrated software systems to computationally simulate the performance/durability/life of engine structures. It is structured to mainly supplement, complement, and whenever possible replace, costly experimental efforts which are unavoidable during engineering research and development programs. Specific objectives include: investigate unique advantages of parallel and multiprocesses for: reformulating/solving structural mechanics and formulating/solving multidisciplinary mechanics and develop integrated structural system computational simulators for: predicting structural performances, evaluating newly developed methods, and for identifying and prioritizing improved/missing methods needed. Herein the CSM program is summarized with emphasis on the Engine Structures Computational Simulator (ESCS). Typical results obtained using ESCS are described to illustrate its versatility.

  15. Structural synaptic plasticity in the hippocampus induced by spatial experience and its implications in information processing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carasatorre, M; Ramírez-Amaya, V; Díaz Cintra, S

    2016-10-01

    Long-lasting memory formation requires that groups of neurons processing new information develop the ability to reproduce the patterns of neural activity acquired by experience. Changes in synaptic efficiency let neurons organise to form ensembles that repeat certain activity patterns again and again. Among other changes in synaptic plasticity, structural modifications tend to be long-lasting which suggests that they underlie long-term memory. There is a large body of evidence supporting that experience promotes changes in the synaptic structure, particularly in the hippocampus. Structural changes to the hippocampus may be functionally implicated in stabilising acquired memories and encoding new information. Copyright © 2012 Sociedad Española de Neurología. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

  16. Crystal structure of inactive form of Rab3B

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Zhang, Wei [Hubei Key Laboratory of Genetic Regulation and Integrative Biology, College of Life Science, Huazhong Normal University, Wuhan 430079 (China); Shen, Yang [Structural Genomics Consortium, University of Toronto, 101 College St., Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5G 1L7 (Canada); Jiao, Ronghong [Department of Function Inspection, Hebei Provincial People' s Hospital, Shijiazhuang 050051 (China); Liu, Yanli; Deng, Lingfu [Hubei Key Laboratory of Genetic Regulation and Integrative Biology, College of Life Science, Huazhong Normal University, Wuhan 430079 (China); Qi, Chao, E-mail: qichao@mail.ccnu.edu.cn [Hubei Key Laboratory of Genetic Regulation and Integrative Biology, College of Life Science, Huazhong Normal University, Wuhan 430079 (China)

    2012-02-24

    Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer This is the first structural information of human Rab3B. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer To provides a structural basis for the GDP/GTP switch in controlling the activity of Rab3. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer The charge distribution of Rab3B indicates its unique roles in vesicular trafficking. -- Abstract: Rab proteins are the largest family of ras-related GTPases in eukaryotic cells. They act as directional molecular switches at membrane trafficking, including vesicle budding, cargo sorting, transport, tethering, and fusion. Here, we generated and crystallized the Rab3B:GDP complex. The structure of the complex was solved to 1.9 A resolution and the structural base comparison with other Rab3 members provides a structural basis for the GDP/GTP switch in controlling the activity of small GTPase. The comparison of charge distribution among the members of Rab3 also indicates their different roles in vesicular trafficking.

  17. GRAMMAR RULE BASED INFORMATION RETRIEVAL MODEL FOR BIG DATA

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    T. Nadana Ravishankar

    2015-07-01

    Full Text Available Though Information Retrieval (IR in big data has been an active field of research for past few years; the popularity of the native languages presents a unique challenge in big data information retrieval systems. There is a need to retrieve information which is present in English and display it in the native language for users. This aim of cross language information retrieval is complicated by unique features of the native languages such as: morphology, compound word formations, word spelling variations, ambiguity, word synonym, other language influence and etc. To overcome some of these issues, the native language is modeled using a grammar rule based approach in this work. The advantage of this approach is that the native language is modeled and its unique features are encoded using a set of inference rules. This rule base coupled with the customized ontological system shows considerable potential and is found to show better precision and recall.

  18. Unique self-assembly properties of a bridge-shaped protein dimer with quantum dots

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wang, Jianhao; Jiang, Pengju; Gao, Liqian; Yu, Yongsheng; Lu, Yao; Qiu, Lin; Wang, Cheli; Xia, Jiang

    2013-01-01

    How protein–protein interaction affects protein–nanoparticle self-assembly is the key to the understanding of biomolecular coating of nanoparticle in biological fluids. However, the relationship between protein shape and its interaction with nanoparticles is still under-exploited because of lack of a well-conceived binding system and a method to detect the subtle change in the protein–nanoparticle assemblies. Noticing this unresolved need, we cloned and expressed a His-tagged SpeA protein that adopts a bridge-shaped dimer structure, and utilized a high-resolution capillary electrophoresis method to monitor assembly formation between the protein and quantum dots (QDs, 5 nm in diameter). We observed that the bridge-shaped structure rendered a low SpeA:QD stoichiometry at saturation. Also, close monitoring of imidazole (Im) displacement of surface-bound protein revealed a unique two-step process. High-concentration Im could displace surface-bound SpeA protein and form a transient QD–protein intermediate, through a kinetically controlled displacement process. An affinity-driven equilibrium step then followed, resulting in re-assembling of the QD–protein complex in about 1 h. Through a temporarily formed intermediate, Im causes a rearrangement of His-tagged proteins on the surface. Thus, our work showcases that the synergistic interplay between QD–His-tag interaction and protein–protein interaction can result in unique properties of protein–nanoparticle assembly for the first time

  19. Unique self-assembly properties of a bridge-shaped protein dimer with quantum dots

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Jianhao; Jiang, Pengju; Gao, Liqian; Yu, Yongsheng; Lu, Yao; Qiu, Lin; Wang, Cheli; Xia, Jiang

    2013-09-01

    How protein-protein interaction affects protein-nanoparticle self-assembly is the key to the understanding of biomolecular coating of nanoparticle in biological fluids. However, the relationship between protein shape and its interaction with nanoparticles is still under-exploited because of lack of a well-conceived binding system and a method to detect the subtle change in the protein-nanoparticle assemblies. Noticing this unresolved need, we cloned and expressed a His-tagged SpeA protein that adopts a bridge-shaped dimer structure, and utilized a high-resolution capillary electrophoresis method to monitor assembly formation between the protein and quantum dots (QDs, 5 nm in diameter). We observed that the bridge-shaped structure rendered a low SpeA:QD stoichiometry at saturation. Also, close monitoring of imidazole (Im) displacement of surface-bound protein revealed a unique two-step process. High-concentration Im could displace surface-bound SpeA protein and form a transient QD-protein intermediate, through a kinetically controlled displacement process. An affinity-driven equilibrium step then followed, resulting in re-assembling of the QD-protein complex in about 1 h. Through a temporarily formed intermediate, Im causes a rearrangement of His-tagged proteins on the surface. Thus, our work showcases that the synergistic interplay between QD-His-tag interaction and protein-protein interaction can result in unique properties of protein-nanoparticle assembly for the first time.

  20. RStrucFam: a web server to associate structure and cognate RNA for RNA-binding proteins from sequence information.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ghosh, Pritha; Mathew, Oommen K; Sowdhamini, Ramanathan

    2016-10-07

    RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) interact with their cognate RNA(s) to form large biomolecular assemblies. They are versatile in their functionality and are involved in a myriad of processes inside the cell. RBPs with similar structural features and common biological functions are grouped together into families and superfamilies. It will be useful to obtain an early understanding and association of RNA-binding property of sequences of gene products. Here, we report a web server, RStrucFam, to predict the structure, type of cognate RNA(s) and function(s) of proteins, where possible, from mere sequence information. The web server employs Hidden Markov Model scan (hmmscan) to enable association to a back-end database of structural and sequence families. The database (HMMRBP) comprises of 437 HMMs of RBP families of known structure that have been generated using structure-based sequence alignments and 746 sequence-centric RBP family HMMs. The input protein sequence is associated with structural or sequence domain families, if structure or sequence signatures exist. In case of association of the protein with a family of known structures, output features like, multiple structure-based sequence alignment (MSSA) of the query with all others members of that family is provided. Further, cognate RNA partner(s) for that protein, Gene Ontology (GO) annotations, if any and a homology model of the protein can be obtained. The users can also browse through the database for details pertaining to each family, protein or RNA and their related information based on keyword search or RNA motif search. RStrucFam is a web server that exploits structurally conserved features of RBPs, derived from known family members and imprinted in mathematical profiles, to predict putative RBPs from sequence information. Proteins that fail to associate with such structure-centric families are further queried against the sequence-centric RBP family HMMs in the HMMRBP database. Further, all other essential

  1. Linear versus non-linear structural information limit in high-resolution transmission electron microscopy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Van Aert, S.; Chen, J.H.; Van Dyck, D.

    2010-01-01

    A widely used performance criterion in high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) is the information limit. It corresponds to the inverse of the maximum spatial object frequency that is linearly transmitted with sufficient intensity from the exit plane of the object to the image plane and is limited due to partial temporal coherence. In practice, the information limit is often measured from a diffractogram or from Young's fringes assuming a weak phase object scattering beyond the inverse of the information limit. However, for an aberration corrected electron microscope, with an information limit in the sub-angstrom range, weak phase objects are no longer applicable since they do not scatter sufficiently in this range. Therefore, one relies on more strongly scattering objects such as crystals of heavy atoms observed along a low index zone axis. In that case, dynamical scattering becomes important such that the non-linear and linear interaction may be equally important. The non-linear interaction may then set the experimental cut-off frequency observed in a diffractogram. The goal of this paper is to quantify both the linear and the non-linear information transfer in terms of closed form analytical expressions. Whereas the cut-off frequency set by the linear transfer can be directly related with the attainable resolution, information from the non-linear transfer can only be extracted using quantitative, model-based methods. In contrast to the historic definition of the information limit depending on microscope parameters only, the expressions derived in this paper explicitly incorporate their dependence on the structure parameters as well. In order to emphasize this dependence and to distinguish from the usual information limit, the expressions derived for the inverse cut-off frequencies will be referred to as the linear and non-linear structural information limit. The present findings confirm the well-known result that partial temporal coherence has

  2. Developing an Interpretive Structural Modeling(ISM in order to Achieve Agility via Information Technology in Manufacturing Organization

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ali Mohammadi

    2012-12-01

    Full Text Available Agility is considered the ability to respond quickly to changes and a major factor for success and survival in today's business. The purpose of this research is to offer a conceptual model using Interpretive Structural Modeling(ISM. To this end after reviewing literature and theoretical background, the indices related to achieving agility via information technology (IT have been identified and then the Interpretive Structural Model in four levels has been represented. Findings show that tendency and commitment of top managers, organizational climate and strategic planning alignment with information technology planning is the major factors affecting agility achievement via information technology (IT.

  3. Structural alphabets derived from attractors in conformational space

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    Kleinjung Jens

    2010-02-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background The hierarchical and partially redundant nature of protein structures justifies the definition of frequently occurring conformations of short fragments as 'states'. Collections of selected representatives for these states define Structural Alphabets, describing the most typical local conformations within protein structures. These alphabets form a bridge between the string-oriented methods of sequence analysis and the coordinate-oriented methods of protein structure analysis. Results A Structural Alphabet has been derived by clustering all four-residue fragments of a high-resolution subset of the protein data bank and extracting the high-density states as representative conformational states. Each fragment is uniquely defined by a set of three independent angles corresponding to its degrees of freedom, capturing in simple and intuitive terms the properties of the conformational space. The fragments of the Structural Alphabet are equivalent to the conformational attractors and therefore yield a most informative encoding of proteins. Proteins can be reconstructed within the experimental uncertainty in structure determination and ensembles of structures can be encoded with accuracy and robustness. Conclusions The density-based Structural Alphabet provides a novel tool to describe local conformations and it is specifically suitable for application in studies of protein dynamics.

  4. Participatory role of zinc in structural and functional characterization of bioremediase: a unique thermostable microbial silica leaching protein.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chowdhury, Trinath; Sarkar, Manas; Chaudhuri, Biswadeep; Chattopadhyay, Brajadulal; Halder, Umesh Chandra

    2015-07-01

    A unique protein, bioremediase (UniProt Knowledgebase Accession No.: P86277), isolated from a hot spring bacterium BKH1 (GenBank Accession No.: FJ177512), has shown to exhibit silica leaching activity when incorporated to prepare bio-concrete material. Matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization mass spectrometry analysis suggests that bioremediase is 78% homologous to bovine carbonic anhydrase II though it does not exhibit carbonic anhydrase-like activity. Bioinformatics study is performed for understanding the various physical and chemical parameters of the protein which predicts the involvement of zinc encircled by three histidine residues (His94, His96 and His119) at the active site of the protein. Isothermal titration calorimetric-based thermodynamic study on diethyl pyrocarbonate-modified protein recognizes the presence of Zn(2+) in the enzyme moiety. Exothermic to endothermic transition as observed during titration of the protein with Zn(2+) discloses that there are at least two binding sites for zinc within the protein moiety. Addition of Zn(2+) regains the activity of EDTA chelated bioremediase confirming the presence of extra binding site of Zn(2+) in the protein moiety. Revival of folding pattern of completely unfolded urea-treated protein by Zn(2+) explains the participatory role of zinc in structural stability of the protein. Restoration of the λ max in intrinsic fluorescence emission study of the urea-treated protein by Zn(2+) similarly confirms the involvement of Zn in the refolding of the protein. The utility of bioremediase for silica nanoparticles preparation is observed by field emission scanning electron microscopy.

  5. Doing the Organizational Tango: Symbiotic Relationship between Formal and Informal Organizational Structures for an Agile Organization

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    Irena Malgorzata Ali

    2016-04-01

    Full Text Available This paper reports on research with a broad objective to examine the relationship between two organizational entities, the formally structured organization and informal organizational structures, in a changing operational environment, more specifically during military deployments. The paper draws on organizational and complexity paradigms; based on empirical evidence obtained through qualitative techniques, it describes mechanisms that enable a symbiotic relationship between these two organizational structures in a complex operational landscape. Substantive findings provide insights into the dynamics of the interactions between these structures and illuminate the relationship between three enabling factors – accountability, responsible autonomy, and command and control arrangements – that need to be considered to fully exploit the strengths inherent in both formal and informal structures. Based on these findings, a model for enhancement of organizational agility in response to changes in a complex operational environment is described. The model is predicated on feedback and mutual adjustment of the organization, institution and individual through sensemaking; it illustrates the dynamic nature of interactions that are required for such a response.

  6. Improvising information technology projects through the duality of structure

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tiko Iyamu

    2017-08-01

    Full Text Available Background: There is always emphasis on information technology (IT projects because of their significance in organisations. Thus, efforts and resources are reciprocally committed to ensure the successes. Still, failure of IT projects in many organisations remains high and affects competitiveness. As recourse for remedy, different techniques and approaches have been employed. However, little or no progress has been made in increasing the success rate of IT projects in many organisations. Objectives: The objective of this study was to examine the factors that influence and impact IT projects, improvisation and how improvisation manifests. Method: The study was carried out using a single case study approach. Qualitative data were collected and duality of structure from the perspective of structuration theory was used as lens to guide the analysis. Results: Findings from this study reveal how reproduction of actions manifests from non-technical factors, such as cultural value, organisational structure, power relationship, human capacity, know-how and change management. These factors help to gain a more constructive and better understanding of how IT projects improvisation is influenced or impacted by non-technical factors in organisations. Conclusion: The study is intended to benefit both practitioners and academics. Some of the benefits will be gained from fresh perspectives on the complexities of IT projects improvisation, which are often caused by various seen and unforeseen non-technical factors. This includes how actions from relationship, know-how about facilities and communicative scheme are produced and reproduced.

  7. Geometric structure and information change in phase transitions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Eun-jin; Hollerbach, Rainer

    2017-06-01

    We propose a toy model for a cyclic order-disorder transition and introduce a geometric methodology to understand stochastic processes involved in transitions. Specifically, our model consists of a pair of forward and backward processes (FPs and BPs) for the emergence and disappearance of a structure in a stochastic environment. We calculate time-dependent probability density functions (PDFs) and the information length L , which is the total number of different states that a system undergoes during the transition. Time-dependent PDFs during transient relaxation exhibit strikingly different behavior in FPs and BPs. In particular, FPs driven by instability undergo the broadening of the PDF with a large increase in fluctuations before the transition to the ordered state accompanied by narrowing the PDF width. During this stage, we identify an interesting geodesic solution accompanied by the self-regulation between the growth and nonlinear damping where the time scale τ of information change is constant in time, independent of the strength of the stochastic noise. In comparison, BPs are mainly driven by the macroscopic motion due to the movement of the PDF peak. The total information length L between initial and final states is much larger in BPs than in FPs, increasing linearly with the deviation γ of a control parameter from the critical state in BPs while increasing logarithmically with γ in FPs. L scales as |lnD | and D-1 /2 in FPs and BPs, respectively, where D measures the strength of the stochastic forcing. These differing scalings with γ and D suggest a great utility of L in capturing different underlying processes, specifically, diffusion vs advection in phase transition by geometry. We discuss physical origins of these scalings and comment on implications of our results for bistable systems undergoing repeated order-disorder transitions (e.g., fitness).

  8. Structuring heterogeneous biological information using fuzzy clustering of k-partite graphs

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Theis Fabian J

    2010-10-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Extensive and automated data integration in bioinformatics facilitates the construction of large, complex biological networks. However, the challenge lies in the interpretation of these networks. While most research focuses on the unipartite or bipartite case, we address the more general but common situation of k-partite graphs. These graphs contain k different node types and links are only allowed between nodes of different types. In order to reveal their structural organization and describe the contained information in a more coarse-grained fashion, we ask how to detect clusters within each node type. Results Since entities in biological networks regularly have more than one function and hence participate in more than one cluster, we developed a k-partite graph partitioning algorithm that allows for overlapping (fuzzy clusters. It determines for each node a degree of membership to each cluster. Moreover, the algorithm estimates a weighted k-partite graph that connects the extracted clusters. Our method is fast and efficient, mimicking the multiplicative update rules commonly employed in algorithms for non-negative matrix factorization. It facilitates the decomposition of networks on a chosen scale and therefore allows for analysis and interpretation of structures on various resolution levels. Applying our algorithm to a tripartite disease-gene-protein complex network, we were able to structure this graph on a large scale into clusters that are functionally correlated and biologically meaningful. Locally, smaller clusters enabled reclassification or annotation of the clusters' elements. We exemplified this for the transcription factor MECP2. Conclusions In order to cope with the overwhelming amount of information available from biomedical literature, we need to tackle the challenge of finding structures in large networks with nodes of multiple types. To this end, we presented a novel fuzzy k-partite graph partitioning

  9. Information diffusion in structured online social networks

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Pei; Zhang, Yini; Qiao, Fengcai; Wang, Hui

    2015-05-01

    Nowadays, due to the word-of-mouth effect, online social networks have been considered to be efficient approaches to conduct viral marketing, which makes it of great importance to understand the diffusion dynamics in online social networks. However, most research on diffusion dynamics in epidemiology and existing social networks cannot be applied directly to characterize online social networks. In this paper, we propose models to characterize the information diffusion in structured online social networks with push-based forwarding mechanism. We introduce the term user influence to characterize the average number of times that messages are browsed which is incurred by a given type user generating a message, and study the diffusion threshold, above which the user influence of generating a message will approach infinity. We conduct simulations and provide the simulation results, which are consistent with the theoretical analysis results perfectly. These results are of use in understanding the diffusion dynamics in online social networks and also critical for advertisers in viral marketing who want to estimate the user influence before posting an advertisement.

  10. Insight into the informational-structure behavior of the Diels-Alder reaction of cyclopentadiene and maleic anhydride.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Molina-Espíritu, Moyocoyani; Esquivel, Rodolfo O; Kohout, Miroslav; Angulo, Juan Carlos; Dobado, José A; Dehesa, Jesús S; LópezRosa, Sheila; Soriano-Correa, Catalina

    2014-08-01

    The course of the Diels-Alder reactions of cyclopentadiene and maleic anhydride were studied. Two reaction paths were modelled: endo- and exo-selective paths. All structures within the transient region were characterized and analyzed by means of geometrical descriptors, physicochemical parameters and information-theoretical measures in order to observe the linkage between chemical behavior and the carriage of information. We have shown that the information-theoretical characterization of the chemical course of the reaction is in complete agreement with its phenomenological behavior in passing from reactants to products. In addition, we were able to detect the main differences between the two reaction mechanisms. This type of informational analysis serves to provide tools to help understand the chemical reactivity of the two simplest Diels-Alder reactions, which permits the establishment of a connection between the quantum changes that molecular systems exert along reaction coordinates and standard physicochemical phenomenology. In the present study, we have shown that every reaction stage has a family of subsequent structures that are characterized not solely by their phenomenological behavior but also by informational properties of their electronic density distribution (localizability, order, uniformity). Moreover, we were able to describe the main differences between endo-adduct and exo-adduct pathways. With the advent of new experimental techniques, it is in principle possible to observe the structural changes in the transient regions of chemical reactions. Indeed, through this work we have provided the theoretical concepts needed to unveil the concurrent processes associated with chemical reactions.

  11. Perceptual learning is specific to the trained structure of information.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cohen, Yamit; Daikhin, Luba; Ahissar, Merav

    2013-12-01

    What do we learn when we practice a simple perceptual task? Many studies have suggested that we learn to refine or better select the sensory representations of the task-relevant dimension. Here we show that learning is specific to the trained structural regularities. Specifically, when this structure is modified after training with a fixed temporal structure, performance regresses to pretraining levels, even when the trained stimuli and task are retained. This specificity raises key questions as to the importance of low-level sensory modifications in the learning process. We trained two groups of participants on a two-tone frequency discrimination task for several days. In one group, a fixed reference tone was consistently presented in the first interval (the second tone was higher or lower), and in the other group the same reference tone was consistently presented in the second interval. When following training, these temporal protocols were switched between groups, performance of both groups regressed to pretraining levels, and further training was needed to attain postlearning performance. ERP measures, taken before and after training, indicated that participants implicitly learned the temporal regularity of the protocol and formed an attentional template that matched the trained structure of information. These results are consistent with Reverse Hierarchy Theory, which posits that even the learning of simple perceptual tasks progresses in a top-down manner, hence can benefit from temporal regularities at the trial level, albeit at the potential cost that learning may be specific to these regularities.

  12. Combining cognitive engineering and information fusion architectures to build effective joint systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sliva, Amy L.; Gorman, Joe; Voshell, Martin; Tittle, James; Bowman, Christopher

    2016-05-01

    The Dual Node Decision Wheels (DNDW) architecture concept was previously described as a novel approach toward integrating analytic and decision-making processes in joint human/automation systems in highly complex sociotechnical settings. In this paper, we extend the DNDW construct with a description of components in this framework, combining structures of the Dual Node Network (DNN) for Information Fusion and Resource Management with extensions on Rasmussen's Decision Ladder (DL) to provide guidance on constructing information systems that better serve decision-making support requirements. The DNN takes a component-centered approach to system design, decomposing each asset in terms of data inputs and outputs according to their roles and interactions in a fusion network. However, to ensure relevancy to and organizational fitment within command and control (C2) processes, principles from cognitive systems engineering emphasize that system design must take a human-centered systems view, integrating information needs and decision making requirements to drive the architecture design and capabilities of network assets. In the current work, we present an approach for structuring and assessing DNDW systems that uses a unique hybrid DNN top-down system design with a human-centered process design, combining DNN node decomposition with artifacts from cognitive analysis (i.e., system abstraction decomposition models, decision ladders) to provide work domain and task-level insights at different levels in an example intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) system setting. This DNDW structure will ensure not only that the information fusion technologies and processes are structured effectively, but that the resulting information products will align with the requirements of human decision makers and be adaptable to different work settings .

  13. Is subjective social status a unique correlate of physical health? A meta-analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cundiff, Jenny M; Matthews, Karen A

    2017-12-01

    Both social stratification (e.g., social rank) as well as economic resources (e.g., income) are thought to contribute to socioeconomic health disparities. It has been proposed that subjective socioeconomic status (an individual's perception of his or her hierarchical rank) provides increased predictive utility for physical health over and above more traditional, well-researched socioeconomic constructs such as education, occupation, and income. PsycINFO and PubMed databases were systematically searched for studies examining the association of subjective socioeconomic status (SES) and physical health adjusting for at least 1 measure of objective SES. The final sample included 31 studies and 99 unique effects. Meta-analyses were performed to: (a) estimate the overlap among subjective and objective indicators of SES and (b) estimate the cumulative association of subjective SES with physical health adjusting for objective SES. Potential moderators such as race and type of health indicator assessed (global self-reports vs. more specific and biologically based indicators) were also examined. Across samples, subjective SES shows moderate overlap with objective indicators of SES, but associations are much stronger in Whites than Blacks. Subjective SES evidenced a unique cumulative association with physical health in adults, above and beyond traditional objective indicators of SES (Z = .07, SE = .01, p Subjective SES may provide unique information relevant to understanding disparities in health, especially self-rated health. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

  14. Process, structure, property and applications of metallic glasses

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    B. Geetha Priyadarshini

    2016-07-01

    Full Text Available Metallic glasses (MGs are gaining immense technological significance due to their unique structure-property relationship with renewed interest in diverse field of applications including biomedical implants, commercial products, machinery parts, and micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS. Various processing routes have been adopted to fabricate MGs with short-range ordering which is believed to be the genesis of unique structure. Understanding the structure of these unique materials is a long-standing unsolved mystery. Unlike crystalline counterpart, the outstanding properties of metallic glasses owing to the absence of grain boundaries is reported to exhibit high hardness, excellent strength, high elastic strain, and anti-corrosion properties. The combination of these remarkable properties would significantly contribute to improvement of performance and reliability of these materials when incorporated as bio-implants. The nucleation and growth of metallic glasses is driven by thermodynamics and kinetics in non-equilibrium conditions. This comprehensive review article discusses the various attributes of metallic glasses with an aim to understand the fundamentals of relationship process-structure-property existing in such unique class of material.

  15. Embodied memory: effective and stable perception by combining optic flow and image structure.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pan, Jing Samantha; Bingham, Ned; Bingham, Geoffrey P

    2013-12-01

    Visual perception studies typically focus either on optic flow structure or image structure, but not on the combination and interaction of these two sources of information. Each offers unique strengths in contrast to the other's weaknesses. Optic flow yields intrinsically powerful information about 3D structure, but is ephemeral. It ceases when motion stops. Image structure is less powerful in specifying 3D structure, but is stable. It remains when motion stops. Optic flow and image structure are intrinsically related in vision because the optic flow carries one image to the next. This relation is especially important in the context of progressive occlusion, in which optic flow provides information about the location of targets hidden in subsequent image structure. In four experiments, we investigated the role of image structure in "embodied memory" in contrast to memory that is only in the head. We found that either optic flow (Experiment 1) or image structure (Experiment 2) alone were relatively ineffective, whereas the combination was effective and, in contrast to conditions requiring reliance on memory-in-the-head, much more stable over extended time (Experiments 2 through 4). Limits well documented for visual short memory (that is, memory-in-the-head) were strongly exceeded by embodied memory. The findings support J. J. Gibson's (1979/1986, The Ecological Approach to Visual Perception, Boston, MA, Houghton Mifflin) insights about progressive occlusion and the embodied nature of perception and memory.

  16. Local magnetic structure determination using polarized neutron holography

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Szakál, Alex; Markó, Márton; Cser, László

    2015-01-01

    A unique and important property of the neutron is that it possesses magnetic moment. This property is widely used for determination of magnetic structure of crystalline samples observing the magnetic components of the diffraction peaks. Investigations of diffraction patterns give information only about the averaged structure of a crystal but for discovering of local spin arrangement around a specific (e.g., impurity) nucleus remains still a challenging problem. Neutron holography is a useful tool to investigate the local structure around a specific nucleus embedded in a crystal lattice. The method has been successfully applied experimentally in several cases using non-magnetic short range interaction of the neutron and the nucleus. A mathematical model of the hologram using interaction between magnetic moment of the atom and the neutron spin for polarized neutron holography is provided. Validity of a polarized neutron holographic experiment is demonstrated by applying the proposed method on model systems

  17. The Effect of Screen Size on Mobile Phone User Comprehension of Health Information and Application Structure: An Experimental Approach.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Al Ghamdi, Ebtisam; Yunus, Faisal; Da'ar, Omar; El-Metwally, Ashraf; Khalifa, Mohamed; Aldossari, Bakheet; Househ, Mowafa

    2016-01-01

    This research analyzes the impact of mobile phone screen size on user comprehension of health information and application structure. Applying experimental approach, we asked randomly selected users to read content and conduct tasks on a commonly used diabetes mobile application using three different mobile phone screen sizes. We timed and tracked a number of parameters, including correctness, effectiveness of completing tasks, content ease of reading, clarity of information organization, and comprehension. The impact of screen size on user comprehension/retention, clarity of information organization, and reading time were mixed. It is assumed on first glance that mobile screen size would affect all qualities of information reading and comprehension, including clarity of displayed information organization, reading time and user comprehension/retention of displayed information, but actually the screen size, in this experimental research, did not have significant impact on user comprehension/retention of the content or on understanding the application structure. However, it did have significant impact on clarity of information organization and reading time. Participants with larger screen size took shorter time reading the content with a significant difference in the ease of reading. While there was no significant difference in the comprehension of information or the application structures, there were a higher task completion rate and a lower number of errors with the bigger screen size. Screen size does not directly affect user comprehension of health information. However, it does affect clarity of information organization, reading time and user's ability to recall information.

  18. Unique cytologic features of thyroiditis caused by immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy for malignant melanoma

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Trevor E. Angell

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available Blockade of immune checkpoint molecules to reverse cancer-induced immune suppression can improve anti-tumor immune responses in cancer patients. Monoclonal antibodies targeting two such molecules, Programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1 and cytotoxic T-lymphocyte associated protein 4 (CTLA-4 have shown clinical benefit in the treatment of advanced malignancies, including metastatic melanoma. Adverse effects of these immune checkpoint inhibitors include immune-related adverse events (irAE, of which one of the most common is autoimmune thyroiditis. Though thyroiditis is increasingly recognized, there are no reports of the pathological findings that occur in immunotherapy-induced thyroiditis. We present a case of immunotherapy-induced thyroiditis demonstrating its unique cytopathologic features. A 51-year-old woman with metastatic melanoma was found to have a suppressed TSH and elevated free thyroxine concentration 14 days after starting treatment with nivolumab (PD-1 antagonist plus ipilimumab (CTLA-4 antagonist therapy. A thyroid biopsy was performed based on ultrasound findings and cytopathology revealed unique features including abundant clusters of necrotic cells, lymphocytes and CD163-positive histiocytes. This case reports cytopathologic features found in immune checkpoint inhibitor related thyroiditis. These appear to be unique findings and may help inform future research regarding the pathophysiology and mechanisms of this condition.

  19. Analysis on the implementation of the unique model of Services Cards in Catalonia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    María del Mar Caraza Cristín

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available In Catalonia, services cards have an unique regulation, so far singular. The law on transparency, access to public information and corporate governance of this community has given them statutory and binding legal effects. They have gone from soft to hard law. And this fact has important consequences in the field of administration’s patrimonial responsibility. Two years after the entry into force of this law, it is time to analyze what has been the actual implementation of this new regulation and draw conclusions.

  20. DECISIONS ET COMPETITIVITE SUR LE MARCHE UNIQUE EUROPEEN

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sirghi Nicoleta

    2008-05-01

    Full Text Available L’un des traits importants du marché unique européen, a comme source le męme énoncé du principal objectif de l’intégration européenne ainsi que: l’harmonisation des niveaux du développement des Etats Membres et l’augmentation du niveau de vie dans l’ensemble de la communauté. Pour le marché unique européen, cet aspect se traduit par une permanente et soutenue augmentation de la demande. Cet ouvrage présente au début une analyse des éléments spécifiques du marché européen. Ensuite on identifie les opportunités et les risques au niveau macroéconomique adjointes aux perspectives du marché unique européen. Comme fondement on présente des stratégies du développement réalisables au niveau microéconomique que puissent assurer l’augmentation du niveau sur la compétitivité des sociétés sur le marché unique européen.

  1. Sufficient conditions for uniqueness of the weak value

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dressel, J; Jordan, A N

    2012-01-01

    We review and clarify the sufficient conditions for uniquely defining the generalized weak value as the weak limit of a conditioned average using the contextual values formalism introduced in Dressel, Agarwal and Jordan (2010 Phys. Rev. Lett. http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.104.240401). We also respond to criticism of our work by Parrott (arXiv:1105.4188v1) concerning a proposed counter-example to the uniqueness of the definition of the generalized weak value. The counter-example does not satisfy our prescription in the case of an underspecified measurement context. We show that when the contextual values formalism is properly applied to this example, a natural interpretation of the measurement emerges and the unique definition in the weak limit holds. We also prove a theorem regarding the uniqueness of the definition under our sufficient conditions for the general case. Finally, a second proposed counter-example by Parrott (arXiv:1105.4188v6) is shown not to satisfy the sufficiency conditions for the provided theorem. (paper)

  2. Quantifying information transfer by protein domains: Analysis of the Fyn SH2 domain structure

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lenaerts, Tom; Ferkinghoff-Borg, Jesper; Stricher, Francois

    2008-01-01

    instance of communication over a noisy channel. In particular, we analyze the conformational correlations between protein residues and apply the concept of mutual information to quantify information exchange. Mapping out changes of mutual information on the protein structure then allows visualizing how...... distal communication is achieved. We illustrate the approach by analyzing information transfer by the SH2 domain of Fyn tyrosine kinase, obtained from Monte Carlo dynamics simulations. Our analysis reveals that the Fyn SH2 domain forms a noisy communication channel that couples residues located......Background: Efficient communication between distant sites within a protein is essential for cooperative biological response. Although often associated with large allosteric movements, more subtle changes in protein dynamics can also induce long-range correlations. However, an appropriate formalism...

  3. Going Mobile: An Empirical Model for Explaining Successful Information Logistics in Ward Rounds.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Esdar, Moritz; Liebe, Jan-David; Babitsch, Birgit; Hübner, Ursula

    2018-01-01

    Medical ward rounds are critical focal points of inpatient care that call for uniquely flexible solutions to provide clinical information at the bedside. While this fact is undoubted, adoption rates of mobile IT solutions remain rather low. Our goal was to investigate if and how mobile IT solutions influence successful information provision at the bedside, i.e. clinical information logistics, as well as to shed light at socio-organizational factors that facilitate adoption rates from a user-centered perspective. Survey data were collected from 373 medical and nursing directors of German, Austrian and Swiss hospitals and analyzed using variance-based Structural Equation Modelling (SEM). The adoption of mobile IT solutions explains large portions of clinical information logistics and is in itself associated with an organizational culture of innovation and end user participation. Results should encourage decision makers to understand mobility as a core constituent of information logistics and thus to promote close end-user participation as well as to work towards building a culture of innovation.

  4. Human Uniqueness, Cognition by Description, and Procedural Memory

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    John Bolender

    2008-06-01

    Full Text Available Evidence will be reviewed suggesting a fairly direct link between the human ability to think about entities which one has never perceived — here called “cognition by description” — and procedural memory. Cognition by description is a uniquely hominid trait which makes religion, science, and history possible. It is hypothesized that cognition by description (in the manner of Bertrand Russell’s “knowledge by description” requires variable binding, which in turn utilizes quantifier raising. Quantifier raising plausibly depends upon the computational core of language, specifically the element of it which Noam Chomsky calls “internal Merge”. Internal Merge produces hierarchical structures by means of a memory of derivational steps, a process plausibly involving procedural memory. The hypothesis is testable, predicting that procedural memory deficits will be accompanied by impairments in cognition by description. We also discuss neural mechanisms plausibly underlying procedural memory and also, by our hypothesis, cognition by description.

  5. Origin of the unique ventilatory apparatus of turtles.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lyson, Tyler R; Schachner, Emma R; Botha-Brink, Jennifer; Scheyer, Torsten M; Lambertz, Markus; Bever, G S; Rubidge, Bruce S; de Queiroz, Kevin

    2014-11-07

    The turtle body plan differs markedly from that of other vertebrates and serves as a model system for studying structural and developmental evolution. Incorporation of the ribs into the turtle shell negates the costal movements that effect lung ventilation in other air-breathing amniotes. Instead, turtles have a unique abdominal-muscle-based ventilatory apparatus whose evolutionary origins have remained mysterious. Here we show through broadly comparative anatomical and histological analyses that an early member of the turtle stem lineage has several turtle-specific ventilation characters: rigid ribcage, inferred loss of intercostal muscles and osteological correlates of the primary expiratory muscle. Our results suggest that the ventilation mechanism of turtles evolved through a division of labour between the ribs and muscles of the trunk in which the abdominal muscles took on the primary ventilatory function, whereas the broadened ribs became the primary means of stabilizing the trunk. These changes occurred approximately 50 million years before the evolution of the fully ossified shell.

  6. Predicting RNA Structure Using Mutual Information

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Freyhult, E.; Moulton, V.; Gardner, P. P.

    2005-01-01

    , to display and predict conserved RNA secondary structure (including pseudoknots) from an alignment. Results: We show that MIfold can be used to predict simple pseudoknots, and that the performance can be adjusted to make it either more sensitive or more selective. We also demonstrate that the overall...... package. Conclusion: MIfold provides a useful supplementary tool to programs such as RNA Structure Logo, RNAalifold and COVE, and should be useful for automatically generating structural predictions for databases such as Rfam. Availability: MIfold is freely available from http......Background: With the ever-increasing number of sequenced RNAs and the establishment of new RNA databases, such as the Comparative RNA Web Site and Rfam, there is a growing need for accurately and automatically predicting RNA structures from multiple alignments. Since RNA secondary structure...

  7. Identification of similar regions of protein structures using integrated sequence and structure analysis tools

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Heiland Randy

    2006-03-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Understanding protein function from its structure is a challenging problem. Sequence based approaches for finding homology have broad use for annotation of both structure and function. 3D structural information of protein domains and their interactions provide a complementary view to structure function relationships to sequence information. We have developed a web site http://www.sblest.org/ and an API of web services that enables users to submit protein structures and identify statistically significant neighbors and the underlying structural environments that make that match using a suite of sequence and structure analysis tools. To do this, we have integrated S-BLEST, PSI-BLAST and HMMer based superfamily predictions to give a unique integrated view to prediction of SCOP superfamilies, EC number, and GO term, as well as identification of the protein structural environments that are associated with that prediction. Additionally, we have extended UCSF Chimera and PyMOL to support our web services, so that users can characterize their own proteins of interest. Results Users are able to submit their own queries or use a structure already in the PDB. Currently the databases that a user can query include the popular structural datasets ASTRAL 40 v1.69, ASTRAL 95 v1.69, CLUSTER50, CLUSTER70 and CLUSTER90 and PDBSELECT25. The results can be downloaded directly from the site and include function prediction, analysis of the most conserved environments and automated annotation of query proteins. These results reflect both the hits found with PSI-BLAST, HMMer and with S-BLEST. We have evaluated how well annotation transfer can be performed on SCOP ID's, Gene Ontology (GO ID's and EC Numbers. The method is very efficient and totally automated, generally taking around fifteen minutes for a 400 residue protein. Conclusion With structural genomics initiatives determining structures with little, if any, functional characterization

  8. Uniqueness theorems in linear elasticity

    CERN Document Server

    Knops, Robin John

    1971-01-01

    The classical result for uniqueness in elasticity theory is due to Kirchhoff. It states that the standard mixed boundary value problem for a homogeneous isotropic linear elastic material in equilibrium and occupying a bounded three-dimensional region of space possesses at most one solution in the classical sense, provided the Lame and shear moduli, A and J1 respectively, obey the inequalities (3 A + 2 J1) > 0 and J1>O. In linear elastodynamics the analogous result, due to Neumann, is that the initial-mixed boundary value problem possesses at most one solution provided the elastic moduli satisfy the same set of inequalities as in Kirchhoffs theorem. Most standard textbooks on the linear theory of elasticity mention only these two classical criteria for uniqueness and neglect altogether the abundant literature which has appeared since the original publications of Kirchhoff. To remedy this deficiency it seems appropriate to attempt a coherent description ofthe various contributions made to the study of uniquenes...

  9. Identification of unique interactions between the flexible linker and the RecA-like domains of DEAD-box helicase Mss116

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhang, Yuan; Palla, Mirkó; Liao, Jung-Chi; Sun, Andrew

    2013-01-01

    DEAD-box RNA helicases are ATP-dependent proteins implicated in nearly all aspects of RNA metabolism. The yeast DEAD-box helicase Mss116 is unique in its functions of splicing group I and group II introns and activating mRNA translation, but the structural understanding of why it performs these unique functions remains unclear. Here we used sequence analysis and molecular dynamics simulation to identify residues in the flexible linker specific for yeast Mss116, potentially associated with its unique functions. We first identified residues that are 100% conserved in Mss116 of different species of the Saccharomycetaceae family. The amino acids of these conserved residues were then compared with the amino acids of the corresponding residue positions of other RNA helicases to identify residues that have distinct amino acids from other DEAD-box proteins. Four residues in the flexible linker, i.e. N334, E335, P336 and H339, are conserved and Mss116-specific. Molecular dynamics simulation was conducted for the wild-type Mss116 structure and mutant models to examine mutational effects of the linker on the conformational equilibrium. Relatively short MD simulation runs (within 20 ns) were enough for us to observe mutational effects, suggesting serious structural perturbations by these mutations. The mutation of E335 depletes the interactions between E335 and K95 in domain 1. The interactions between N334/P336 and N496/I497 of domain 2 are also abolished by mutation. Our results suggest that tight interactions between the Mss116-specific flexible linker and the two RecA-like domains may be mechanically required to crimp RNA for the unique RNA processes of yeast Mss116. (paper)

  10. Identification of unique interactions between the flexible linker and the RecA-like domains of DEAD-box helicase Mss116

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Yuan; Palla, Mirkó; Sun, Andrew; Liao, Jung-Chi

    2013-09-01

    DEAD-box RNA helicases are ATP-dependent proteins implicated in nearly all aspects of RNA metabolism. The yeast DEAD-box helicase Mss116 is unique in its functions of splicing group I and group II introns and activating mRNA translation, but the structural understanding of why it performs these unique functions remains unclear. Here we used sequence analysis and molecular dynamics simulation to identify residues in the flexible linker specific for yeast Mss116, potentially associated with its unique functions. We first identified residues that are 100% conserved in Mss116 of different species of the Saccharomycetaceae family. The amino acids of these conserved residues were then compared with the amino acids of the corresponding residue positions of other RNA helicases to identify residues that have distinct amino acids from other DEAD-box proteins. Four residues in the flexible linker, i.e. N334, E335, P336 and H339, are conserved and Mss116-specific. Molecular dynamics simulation was conducted for the wild-type Mss116 structure and mutant models to examine mutational effects of the linker on the conformational equilibrium. Relatively short MD simulation runs (within 20 ns) were enough for us to observe mutational effects, suggesting serious structural perturbations by these mutations. The mutation of E335 depletes the interactions between E335 and K95 in domain 1. The interactions between N334/P336 and N496/I497 of domain 2 are also abolished by mutation. Our results suggest that tight interactions between the Mss116-specific flexible linker and the two RecA-like domains may be mechanically required to crimp RNA for the unique RNA processes of yeast Mss116.

  11. Crystal structure of a bacterial homologue of glucose transporters GLUT1-4.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sun, Linfeng; Zeng, Xin; Yan, Chuangye; Sun, Xiuyun; Gong, Xinqi; Rao, Yu; Yan, Nieng

    2012-10-18

    Glucose transporters are essential for metabolism of glucose in cells of diverse organisms from microbes to humans, exemplified by the disease-related human proteins GLUT1, 2, 3 and 4. Despite rigorous efforts, the structural information for GLUT1-4 or their homologues remains largely unknown. Here we report three related crystal structures of XylE, an Escherichia coli homologue of GLUT1-4, in complex with d-xylose, d-glucose and 6-bromo-6-deoxy-D-glucose, at resolutions of 2.8, 2.9 and 2.6 Å, respectively. The structure consists of a typical major facilitator superfamily fold of 12 transmembrane segments and a unique intracellular four-helix domain. XylE was captured in an outward-facing, partly occluded conformation. Most of the important amino acids responsible for recognition of D-xylose or d-glucose are invariant in GLUT1-4, suggesting functional and mechanistic conservations. Structure-based modelling of GLUT1-4 allows mapping and interpretation of disease-related mutations. The structural and biochemical information reported here constitutes an important framework for mechanistic understanding of glucose transporters and sugar porters in general.

  12. What Do Structures Tell Us About Chemokine Receptor Function and Antagonism?

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kufareva, Irina; Gustavsson, Martin; Zheng, Yi; Stephens, Bryan S.; Handel, Tracy M. (UCSD)

    2017-05-22

    Chemokines and their cell surface G protein–coupled receptors are critical for cell migration, not only in many fundamental biological processes but also in inflammatory diseases and cancer. Recent X-ray structures of two chemokines complexed with full-length receptors provided unprecedented insight into the atomic details of chemokine recognition and receptor activation, and computational modeling informed by new experiments leverages these insights to gain understanding of many more receptor:chemokine pairs. In parallel, chemokine receptor structures with small molecules reveal the complicated and diverse structural foundations of small molecule antagonism and allostery, highlight the inherent physicochemical challenges of receptor:chemokine interfaces, and suggest novel epitopes that can be exploited to overcome these challenges. The structures and models promote unique understanding of chemokine receptor biology, including the interpretation of two decades of experimental studies, and will undoubtedly assist future drug discovery endeavors.

  13. Unique Construction and Social Experiences in Residential Remediation Sites - 13423

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Jung, Paul; Scarborough, Rebecca [Sevenson Environmental Services, Inc. 2749 Lockport Road, Niagara Falls, NY 14305 (United States)

    2013-07-01

    Sevenson Environmental Services, Inc., (Sevenson) has performed several radiological remediation projects located in residential urban areas. Over the course of these projects, there has been a wide variety of experiences encountered from construction related issues to unique social situations. Some of the construction related issues included the remediation of interior basements where contaminated material was located under the footers of the structure or was used in the mortar between cinder block or field stone foundations. Other issues included site security, maintaining furnaces or other utilities, underpinning, backfilling and restoration. In addition to the radiological hazards associated with this work there were occupational safety and industrial hygiene issues that had to be addressed to ensure the safety and health of neighboring properties and residents. The unique social situations at these job sites have included arson, theft/stolen property, assault/battery, prostitution, execution of arrest warrants for residents, discovery of drugs and paraphernalia, blood borne pathogens, and unexploded ordnance. Some of these situations have become a sort of comical urban legend throughout the organization. One situation had historical significance, involving the demolition of a house to save a tree older than the Declaration of Independence. All of these projects typically involve the excavation of early 20. century items such as advertisement signs, various old bottles (milk, Listerine, perfume, whisky) and other miscellaneous common trash items. (authors)

  14. Unique Construction and Social Experiences in Residential Remediation Sites - 13423

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jung, Paul; Scarborough, Rebecca

    2013-01-01

    Sevenson Environmental Services, Inc., (Sevenson) has performed several radiological remediation projects located in residential urban areas. Over the course of these projects, there has been a wide variety of experiences encountered from construction related issues to unique social situations. Some of the construction related issues included the remediation of interior basements where contaminated material was located under the footers of the structure or was used in the mortar between cinder block or field stone foundations. Other issues included site security, maintaining furnaces or other utilities, underpinning, backfilling and restoration. In addition to the radiological hazards associated with this work there were occupational safety and industrial hygiene issues that had to be addressed to ensure the safety and health of neighboring properties and residents. The unique social situations at these job sites have included arson, theft/stolen property, assault/battery, prostitution, execution of arrest warrants for residents, discovery of drugs and paraphernalia, blood borne pathogens, and unexploded ordnance. Some of these situations have become a sort of comical urban legend throughout the organization. One situation had historical significance, involving the demolition of a house to save a tree older than the Declaration of Independence. All of these projects typically involve the excavation of early 20. century items such as advertisement signs, various old bottles (milk, Listerine, perfume, whisky) and other miscellaneous common trash items. (authors)

  15. Processing information about support exchanges in close relationships: The role of a knowledge structure

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bulent eTuran

    2016-02-01

    Full Text Available People develop knowledge of interpersonal interaction patterns (e.g., prototypes and schemas, which shape how they process incoming information. One such knowledge structure based on attachment theory was examined: the secure base script (the prototypic sequence of events when an attachment figure comforts a close relationship partner in distress. In two studies (N = 53 and N = 119, participants were shown animated film clips in which geometric figures depicted the secure base script and asked to describe the animations. Both studies found that many people readily recognize the secure-base script from these minimal cues quite well, suggesting that this script is not only available in the context of specific relationships (i.e., a relationship-specific knowledge: The generalized (abstract structure of the script is also readily accessible, which would make it possible to apply it to any relationship (including new relationships. Regression analyses suggested that participants who recognized the script were more likely to (a include more animation elements when describing the animations, (b see a common theme in different animations, (c create better organized stories, and (d later recall more details of the animations. These findings suggest that access to this knowledge structure helps a person organize and remember relevant incoming information. Furthermore, in both Study 1 and Study 2, individual differences in the ready recognition of the script were associated with individual differences in having access to another related knowledge: indicators suggesting that a potential relationship partner can be trusted to be supportive and responsive at times of stress. Results of Study 2 also suggest that recognizing the script is associated with those items of an attachment measure that concern giving and receiving support. Thus, these knowledge structures may shape how people process support-relevant information in their everyday lives, potentially

  16. Some Problems of Information-Communication Technologies Implementation in the Activity of Enterprise Structures of Education and Science

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alexander A. Galushkin

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available In this article author examines some of the issues of information and communication technologies in the activity of enterprise structures of education and science. During study author analyzes views of some eminent scientists, with formulate their own point of view. The study emphasizes that the introduction of information products in the deeper stages of the structure of education and science, implementing educational programs, as a rule, is facing a number of serious difficulties. In conclusion, the author cites 3 evidence-based conclusions.

  17. Embodied history. Uniqueness and exemplarity of South African AIDS.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fassin, Didier

    2002-01-01

    The exceptionality of AIDS in South Africa, both for its epidemiological features and public controversies, seems to have its correspondence in the exceptionalism of South African history, with its unprecedented regime of apartheid and its unexpected turn to democracy. The article shows that AIDS in this country can simultaneously be seen as unique (because of the historical context in which it is inscribed) and exemplar (of social determinants observed in other countries characterised by similar past or present of domination). As an alternative to cultural and behavioural models of the epidemic which have been widely spread on the African continent, the concept of embodiment of history is proposed in order to account for both the structural facts underlying the epidemic (inequality, violence, migration) and the construction of collective as well as individual narratives of the disease (including victimisation and accusation).

  18. Landscape and variation of RNA secondary structure across the human transcriptome.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wan, Yue; Qu, Kun; Zhang, Qiangfeng Cliff; Flynn, Ryan A; Manor, Ohad; Ouyang, Zhengqing; Zhang, Jiajing; Spitale, Robert C; Snyder, Michael P; Segal, Eran; Chang, Howard Y

    2014-01-30

    In parallel to the genetic code for protein synthesis, a second layer of information is embedded in all RNA transcripts in the form of RNA structure. RNA structure influences practically every step in the gene expression program. However, the nature of most RNA structures or effects of sequence variation on structure are not known. Here we report the initial landscape and variation of RNA secondary structures (RSSs) in a human family trio (mother, father and their child). This provides a comprehensive RSS map of human coding and non-coding RNAs. We identify unique RSS signatures that demarcate open reading frames and splicing junctions, and define authentic microRNA-binding sites. Comparison of native deproteinized RNA isolated from cells versus refolded purified RNA suggests that the majority of the RSS information is encoded within RNA sequence. Over 1,900 transcribed single nucleotide variants (approximately 15% of all transcribed single nucleotide variants) alter local RNA structure. We discover simple sequence and spacing rules that determine the ability of point mutations to impact RSSs. Selective depletion of 'riboSNitches' versus structurally synonymous variants at precise locations suggests selection for specific RNA shapes at thousands of sites, including 3' untranslated regions, binding sites of microRNAs and RNA-binding proteins genome-wide. These results highlight the potentially broad contribution of RNA structure and its variation to gene regulation.

  19. The impact of information technology on productivity using structural equations technique in Iran Behnoush Company

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mina Beig

    2012-08-01

    Full Text Available Information technology plays an important role on increasing productivity in many organizations. The primary objective of the present survey is to study the impact of information technology on productivity and find a positive and significant relationship between these two factors. Structural equations technique and LISREL software are used for analysis of the questionnaires distributed among managers and some employees of Iran Behnoush Company. Organizations try to improve their performance by investment in information technology. However, many of the previous studies indicate insignificance of the impact of information technology on productivity of the organizations. The present survey studies the impact of information technology on organizations' productivity through the collected data from the above company. Results confirm existence of a positive relationship between information technology and productivity.

  20. Quantifying the information in the long-range order of words: semantic structures and universal linguistic constraints.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Montemurro, Marcelo A

    2014-06-01

    We review some recent progress on the characterisation of long-range patterns of word use in language using methods from information theory. In particular, two levels of structure in language are considered. The first level corresponds to the patterns of words usage over different contextual domains. A direct application of information theory to quantify the specificity of words across different sections of a linguistic sequence leads to a measure of semantic information. Moreover, a natural scale emerges that characterises the typical size of semantic structures. Since the information measure is made up of additive contributions from individual words, it is possible to rank the words according to their overall weight in the total information. This allows the extraction of keywords most relevant to the semantic content of the sequence without any prior knowledge of the language. The second level considered is the complex structure of correlations among words in linguistic sequences. The degree of order in language can be quantified by means of the entropy. Reliable estimates of the entropy were obtained from corpora of texts from several linguistic families by means of lossless compression algorithms. The value of the entropy fluctuates across different languages since it depends on linguistic organisation at various levels. However, when a measure of relative entropy that specifically quantifies the degree of word ordering in language is estimated, it presents an almost constant value over all the linguistic families studied. This suggests that the entropy of word ordering is a novel quantitative linguistic universal. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  1. Physical modeling of river spanning rock structures: Evaluating interstitial flow, local hydraulics, downstream scour development, and structure stability

    Science.gov (United States)

    Collins, K.L.; Thornton, C.I.; Mefford, B.; Holmquist-Johnson, C. L.

    2009-01-01

    Rock weir and ramp structures uniquely serve a necessary role in river management: to meet water deliveries in an ecologically sound manner. Uses include functioning as low head diversion dams, permitting fish passage, creating habitat diversity, and stabilizing stream banks and profiles. Existing information on design and performance of in-stream rock structures does not provide the guidance necessary to implement repeatable and sustainable construction and retrofit techniques. As widespread use of rock structures increases, the need for reliable design methods with a broad range of applicability at individual sites grows as well. Rigorous laboratory testing programs were implemented at the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) and at Colorado State University (CSU) as part of a multifaceted research project focused on expanding the current knowledge base and developing design methods to improve the success rate of river spanning rock structures in meeting project goals. Physical modeling at Reclamation is being used to measure, predict, and reduce interstitial flow through rock ramps. CSU is using physical testing to quantify and predict scour development downstream of rock weirs and its impact on the stability of rock structures. ?? 2009 ASCE.

  2. Structure of E. coli 16S RNA elucidated by psoralen crosslinking

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Thompson, J.F.; Hearst, J.E.

    1983-01-01

    E. coli 16S RNA in solution was photoreacted with hydroxymethyltrimethylpsoralen and long wave ultraviolet light. Positions of crosslinks were determined to high resolution by partially digesting the RNA with T 1 RNase, separating the crosslinked fragments by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis, reversing the crosslink, and sequencing the separated fragments. This method yielded the locations of crosslinks to +/-15 nucleotides. Even finer placement has been made on the basis of our knowledge of psoralen reactivity. Thirteen unique crosslinks were mapped. Seven crosslinks confirmed regions of secondary structure which had been predicted in published phylogenetic models, three crosslinks discriminated between phylogenetic models, and three proved the existence of new structures. The new structures were all long-range interactions which appear to be in dynamic equilibrium with local secondary structure. Because this technique yields direct information about the secondary structure of large RNAs, it should prove invaluable in studying the structure of other RNAs of all sizes

  3. Effects of task autonomy on performance: an extended model considering motivational, informational, and structural mechanisms.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Langfred, Claus W; Moye, Neta A

    2004-12-01

    A model explaining the relationship between task autonomy and performance is proposed that incorporates 3 different causal mechanisms. The performance benefits of task autonomy may be realized by increased motivation (motivational mechanisms), by capitalization of information asymmetries (informational mechanisms), or by better alignment with task and organizational structures (structural mechanisms). Further, it is proposed that these performance benefits are moderated by a variety of variables ranging from individual traits to organizational design. This model may provide a means for accounting for the sometimes inconsistent findings in the empirical literature exploring the relationship between autonomy and performance. The model also offers guidance in the search for additional boundary conditions as well as prescriptive guidelines for the allocation of autonomy in practice. 2004 APA, all rights reserved

  4. New Examples of Torsion-Free Non-unique Product Groups

    OpenAIRE

    Carter, William

    2013-01-01

    We give an infinite family of torsion-free groups that do not satisfy the unique product property. For these examples, we also show that each group contains arbitrarily large sets whose square has no uniquely represented element.

  5. Selenoproteins-What unique properties can arise with selenocysteine in place of cysteine?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Arnér, Elias S J

    2010-05-01

    The defining entity of a selenoprotein is the inclusion of at least one selenocysteine (Sec) residue in its sequence. Sec, the 21st naturally occurring genetically encoded amino acid, differs from its significantly more common structural analog cysteine (Cys) by the identity of a single atom: Sec contains selenium instead of the sulfur found in Cys. Selenium clearly has unique chemical properties that differ from sulfur, but more striking are perhaps the similarities between the two elements. Selenium was discovered by Jöns Jacob Berzelius, a renowned Swedish scientist instrumental in establishing the institution that would become Karolinska Institutet. Written at the occasion of the bicentennial anniversary of Karolinska Institutet, this mini review focuses on the unique selenium-derived properties that may potentially arise in a protein upon the inclusion of Sec in place of Cys. With 25 human genes encoding selenoproteins and in total several thousand selenoproteins yet described in nature, it seems likely that the presence of that single selenium atom of Sec should convey some specific feature, thereby explaining the existence of selenoproteins in spite of demanding and energetically costly Sec-specific synthesis machineries. Nonetheless, most, if not all, of the currently known selenoproteins are also found as Cys-containing non-selenoprotein orthologues in other organisms, wherefore any potentially unique properties of selenoproteins are yet a matter of debate. The pK(a) of free Sec (approximately 5.2) being significantly lower than that of free Cys (approximately 8.5) has often been proposed as one of the unique features of Sec. However, as discussed herein, this pK(a) difference between Sec and Cys can hardly provide an evolutionary pressure for maintenance of selenoproteins. Moreover, the typically 10- to 100-fold lower enzymatic efficiencies of Sec-to-Cys mutants of selenoprotein oxidoreductases, are also weak arguments for the overall existence of

  6. Field Measurement-Based System Identification and Dynamic Response Prediction of a Unique MIT Building.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cha, Young-Jin; Trocha, Peter; Büyüköztürk, Oral

    2016-07-01

    Tall buildings are ubiquitous in major cities and house the homes and workplaces of many individuals. However, relatively few studies have been carried out to study the dynamic characteristics of tall buildings based on field measurements. In this paper, the dynamic behavior of the Green Building, a unique 21-story tall structure located on the campus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT, Cambridge, MA, USA), was characterized and modeled as a simplified lumped-mass beam model (SLMM), using data from a network of accelerometers. The accelerometer network was used to record structural responses due to ambient vibrations, blast loading, and the October 16th 2012 earthquake near Hollis Center (ME, USA). Spectral and signal coherence analysis of the collected data was used to identify natural frequencies, modes, foundation rocking behavior, and structural asymmetries. A relation between foundation rocking and structural natural frequencies was also found. Natural frequencies and structural acceleration from the field measurements were compared with those predicted by the SLMM which was updated by inverse solving based on advanced multiobjective optimization methods using the measured structural responses and found to have good agreement.

  7. Field Measurement-Based System Identification and Dynamic Response Prediction of a Unique MIT Building

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Young-Jin Cha

    2016-07-01

    Full Text Available Tall buildings are ubiquitous in major cities and house the homes and workplaces of many individuals. However, relatively few studies have been carried out to study the dynamic characteristics of tall buildings based on field measurements. In this paper, the dynamic behavior of the Green Building, a unique 21-story tall structure located on the campus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT, Cambridge, MA, USA, was characterized and modeled as a simplified lumped-mass beam model (SLMM, using data from a network of accelerometers. The accelerometer network was used to record structural responses due to ambient vibrations, blast loading, and the October 16th 2012 earthquake near Hollis Center (ME, USA. Spectral and signal coherence analysis of the collected data was used to identify natural frequencies, modes, foundation rocking behavior, and structural asymmetries. A relation between foundation rocking and structural natural frequencies was also found. Natural frequencies and structural acceleration from the field measurements were compared with those predicted by the SLMM which was updated by inverse solving based on advanced multiobjective optimization methods using the measured structural responses and found to have good agreement.

  8. Field Measurement-Based System Identification and Dynamic Response Prediction of a Unique MIT Building

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cha, Young-Jin; Trocha, Peter; Büyüköztürk, Oral

    2016-01-01

    Tall buildings are ubiquitous in major cities and house the homes and workplaces of many individuals. However, relatively few studies have been carried out to study the dynamic characteristics of tall buildings based on field measurements. In this paper, the dynamic behavior of the Green Building, a unique 21-story tall structure located on the campus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT, Cambridge, MA, USA), was characterized and modeled as a simplified lumped-mass beam model (SLMM), using data from a network of accelerometers. The accelerometer network was used to record structural responses due to ambient vibrations, blast loading, and the October 16th 2012 earthquake near Hollis Center (ME, USA). Spectral and signal coherence analysis of the collected data was used to identify natural frequencies, modes, foundation rocking behavior, and structural asymmetries. A relation between foundation rocking and structural natural frequencies was also found. Natural frequencies and structural acceleration from the field measurements were compared with those predicted by the SLMM which was updated by inverse solving based on advanced multiobjective optimization methods using the measured structural responses and found to have good agreement. PMID:27376303

  9. Musical information processing reflecting its structure

    OpenAIRE

    Hiraga, Rumi

    1999-01-01

    In pursuit of generating expressive musical rendition with rules, the computer music project Psyche has greatly concerned musical structure. Although described implicitly, musical structure exists innately and absolutely in musical scores. This thesis demonstrates the successful introduction of musical structure to computer music systems that are related to performance synthesis. Two systems, a performance visualization system and a computer-assisted musical analysis system Daphne, are descri...

  10. Structural identifiability of systems biology models: a critical comparison of methods.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Oana-Teodora Chis

    Full Text Available Analysing the properties of a biological system through in silico experimentation requires a satisfactory mathematical representation of the system including accurate values of the model parameters. Fortunately, modern experimental techniques allow obtaining time-series data of appropriate quality which may then be used to estimate unknown parameters. However, in many cases, a subset of those parameters may not be uniquely estimated, independently of the experimental data available or the numerical techniques used for estimation. This lack of identifiability is related to the structure of the model, i.e. the system dynamics plus the observation function. Despite the interest in knowing a priori whether there is any chance of uniquely estimating all model unknown parameters, the structural identifiability analysis for general non-linear dynamic models is still an open question. There is no method amenable to every model, thus at some point we have to face the selection of one of the possibilities. This work presents a critical comparison of the currently available techniques. To this end, we perform the structural identifiability analysis of a collection of biological models. The results reveal that the generating series approach, in combination with identifiability tableaus, offers the most advantageous compromise among range of applicability, computational complexity and information provided.

  11. Algorithm-structured computer arrays and networks architectures and processes for images, percepts, models, information

    CERN Document Server

    Uhr, Leonard

    1984-01-01

    Computer Science and Applied Mathematics: Algorithm-Structured Computer Arrays and Networks: Architectures and Processes for Images, Percepts, Models, Information examines the parallel-array, pipeline, and other network multi-computers.This book describes and explores arrays and networks, those built, being designed, or proposed. The problems of developing higher-level languages for systems and designing algorithm, program, data flow, and computer structure are also discussed. This text likewise describes several sequences of successively more general attempts to combine the power of arrays wi

  12. Unique Perspectives on a Transforming Energy Economy: 2014 Annual Report (Brochure)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Gossett, S. [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

    2014-03-01

    What makes JISEA unique? Unique perspectives. This brochure highlights the unique perspectives provided by the Joint Institute for Strategic Energy Analysis through JISEA's recent accomplishments and the people behind them.

  13. THE PRINCIPLES AND METHODS OF INFORMATION AND EDUCATIONAL SPACE SEMANTIC STRUCTURING BASED ON ONTOLOGIC APPROACH REALIZATION

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yurij F. Telnov

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available This article reveals principles of semantic structuring of information and educational space of objects of knowledge and scientific and educational services with use of methods of ontologic engineering. Novelty of offered approach is interface of ontology of a content and ontology of scientific and educational services that allows to carry out effective composition of services and objects of knowledge according to models of professional competences and requirements being trained. As a result of application of methods of information and educational space semantic structuring integration of use of the diverse distributed scientific and educational content by educational institutions for carrying out scientific researches, methodical development and training is provided.

  14. Information structure and organisation in change of shift reports: An observational study of nursing hand-offs in a Paediatric Intensive Care Unit.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Foster-Hunt, Tara; Parush, Avi; Ellis, Jacqueline; Thomas, Margot; Rashotte, Judy

    2015-06-01

    Patient hand-offs involve the exchange of critical information. Ineffective hand-offs can result in reduced patient safety by leading to wrong treatment, delayed diagnoses or other outcomes that can negatively affect the healthcare system. The objectives of this study were to uncover the structure of the information conveyed during patient hand-offs and look for principles characterising the organisation of the information. With an observational study approach, data was gathered during the morning and evening nursing change of shift hand-offs in a Paediatric Intensive Care Unit. Content analysis identified a common meta-structure used for information transfer that contained categories with varying degrees of information integration and the repetition of high consequence information. Differences were found in the organisation of the hand-off structures, and these varied as a function of nursing experience. The findings are discussed in terms of the potential benefits of computerised tools which utilise standardised structure for information transfer and the implications for future education and critical care skill acquisition. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  15. Geographic information modeling of Econet of Northwestern Federal District territory on graph theory basis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kopylova, N. S.; Bykova, A. A.; Beregovoy, D. N.

    2018-05-01

    Based on the landscape-geographical approach, a structural and logical scheme for the Northwestern Federal District Econet has been developed, which can be integrated into the federal and world ecological network in order to improve the environmental infrastructure of the region. The method of Northwestern Federal District Econet organization on the basis of graph theory by means of the Quantum GIS geographic information system is proposed as an effective mean of preserving and recreating the unique biodiversity of landscapes, regulation of the sphere of environmental protection.

  16. PET-CT in the typification of unique pulmonary injuries

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cobos, P.; San Roman, Jose L.; Dalurzo, L.

    2007-01-01

    The objective of this document is to evaluate the usefulness of the PET-CT for the characterization of the unique pulmonary injuries. Retrospective analysis was made to patients with unique pulmonary injuries who carried out a PET-CT in the Italian Hospital between May of 2003 - March of 2005. Those patients with pulmonary outlying nodule, or unique pulmonary mass that had pathological anatomy of injury or follow-up through a computed tomography of thorax made with an interval of time not minor at 2 years of the PET-CT were included [es

  17. Crystal structure of Na+, K(+)-ATPase in the Na(+)-bound state.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nyblom, Maria; Poulsen, Hanne; Gourdon, Pontus; Reinhard, Linda; Andersson, Magnus; Lindahl, Erik; Fedosova, Natalya; Nissen, Poul

    2013-10-04

    The Na(+), K(+)-adenosine triphosphatase (ATPase) maintains the electrochemical gradients of Na(+) and K(+) across the plasma membrane--a prerequisite for electrical excitability and secondary transport. Hitherto, structural information has been limited to K(+)-bound or ouabain-blocked forms. We present the crystal structure of a Na(+)-bound Na(+), K(+)-ATPase as determined at 4.3 Å resolution. Compared with the K(+)-bound form, large conformational changes are observed in the α subunit whereas the β and γ subunit structures are maintained. The locations of the three Na(+) sites are indicated with the unique site III at the recently suggested IIIb, as further supported by electrophysiological studies on leak currents. Extracellular release of the third Na(+) from IIIb through IIIa, followed by exchange of Na(+) for K(+) at sites I and II, is suggested.

  18. Information Geometry of Positive Measures and Positive-Definite Matrices: Decomposable Dually Flat Structure

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shun-ichi Amari

    2014-04-01

    Full Text Available Information geometry studies the dually flat structure of a manifold, highlighted by the generalized Pythagorean theorem. The present paper studies a class of Bregman divergences called the (ρ,τ-divergence. A (ρ,τ -divergence generates a dually flat structure in the manifold of positive measures, as well as in the manifold of positive-definite matrices. The class is composed of decomposable divergences, which are written as a sum of componentwise divergences. Conversely, a decomposable dually flat divergence is shown to be a (ρ,τ -divergence. A (ρ,τ -divergence is determined from two monotone scalar functions, ρ and τ. The class includes the KL-divergence, α-, β- and (α, β-divergences as special cases. The transformation between an affine parameter and its dual is easily calculated in the case of a decomposable divergence. Therefore, such a divergence is useful for obtaining the center for a cluster of points, which will be applied to classification and information retrieval in vision. For the manifold of positive-definite matrices, in addition to the dually flatness and decomposability, we require the invariance under linear transformations, in particular under orthogonal transformations. This opens a way to define a new class of divergences, called the (ρ,τ -structure in the manifold of positive-definite matrices.

  19. Measuring structure functions at SSC energies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Morfin, J.G.; Owens, J.F.

    1985-01-01

    Topics discussed include measuring Λ, tests of QCD using hard scattering processes, and measuring parton distributions. In each case, any opportunities and advantages afforded by the unique features of the SSC are emphasized. The working group on structure functions was charged with investigating two specific questions: (1) How well are the various parton distributions known in the kinematic region relevant to calculations for the SSC. (2) What new information can be learned about parton distributions at the SSC. Especially for this working group, the advantages of having a fixed-target facility at the SSC for the measurement of the parton distributions with multi-TeV leptons, were to be examined. 15 references

  20. Quantifying structural alterations in Alzheimer's disease brains using quantitative phase imaging (Conference Presentation)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Moosung; Lee, Eeksung; Jung, JaeHwang; Yu, Hyeonseung; Kim, Kyoohyun; Yoon, Jonghee; Lee, Shinhwa; Jeong, Yong; Park, YongKeun

    2017-02-01

    Imaging brain tissues is an essential part of neuroscience because understanding brain structure provides relevant information about brain functions and alterations associated with diseases. Magnetic resonance imaging and positron emission tomography exemplify conventional brain imaging tools, but these techniques suffer from low spatial resolution around 100 μm. As a complementary method, histopathology has been utilized with the development of optical microscopy. The traditional method provides the structural information about biological tissues to cellular scales, but relies on labor-intensive staining procedures. With the advances of illumination sources, label-free imaging techniques based on nonlinear interactions, such as multiphoton excitations and Raman scattering, have been applied to molecule-specific histopathology. Nevertheless, these techniques provide limited qualitative information and require a pulsed laser, which is difficult to use for pathologists with no laser training. Here, we present a label-free optical imaging of mouse brain tissues for addressing structural alteration in Alzheimer's disease. To achieve the mesoscopic, unlabeled tissue images with high contrast and sub-micrometer lateral resolution, we employed holographic microscopy and an automated scanning platform. From the acquired hologram of the brain tissues, we could retrieve scattering coefficients and anisotropies according to the modified scattering-phase theorem. This label-free imaging technique enabled direct access to structural information throughout the tissues with a sub-micrometer lateral resolution and presented a unique means to investigate the structural changes in the optical properties of biological tissues.

  1. Lattices with unique complements

    CERN Document Server

    Saliĭ, V N

    1988-01-01

    The class of uniquely complemented lattices properly contains all Boolean lattices. However, no explicit example of a non-Boolean lattice of this class has been found. In addition, the question of whether this class contains any complete non-Boolean lattices remains unanswered. This book focuses on these classical problems of lattice theory and the various attempts to solve them. Requiring no specialized knowledge, the book is directed at researchers and students interested in general algebra and mathematical logic.

  2. Unique growth strategy in the Earth's first trees revealed in silicified fossil trunks from China.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xu, Hong-He; Berry, Christopher M; Stein, William E; Wang, Yi; Tang, Peng; Fu, Qiang

    2017-11-07

    Cladoxylopsida included the earliest large trees that formed critical components of globally transformative pioneering forest ecosystems in the Mid- and early Late Devonian (ca. 393-372 Ma). Well-known cladoxylopsid fossils include the up to ∼1-m-diameter sandstone casts known as Eospermatopteris from Middle Devonian strata of New York State. Cladoxylopsid trunk structure comprised a more-or-less distinct cylinder of numerous separate cauline xylem strands connected internally with a network of medullary xylem strands and, near the base, externally with downward-growing roots, all embedded within parenchyma. However, the means by which this complex vascular system was able to grow to a large diameter is unknown. We demonstrate-based on exceptional, up to ∼70-cm-diameter silicified fossil trunks with extensive preservation of cellular anatomy from the early Late Devonian (Frasnian, ca. 374 Ma) of Xinjiang, China-that trunk expansion is associated with a cylindrical zone of diffuse secondary growth within ground and cortical parenchyma and with production of a large amount of wood containing both rays and growth increments concentrically around individual xylem strands by normal cambia. The xylem system accommodates expansion by tearing of individual strand interconnections during secondary development. This mode of growth seems indeterminate, capable of producing trees of large size and, despite some unique features, invites comparison with secondary development in some living monocots. Understanding the structure and growth of cladoxylopsids informs analysis of canopy competition within early forests with the potential to drive global processes. Published under the PNAS license.

  3. Structural Fingerprints of Transcription Factor Binding Site Regions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Peter Willett

    2009-03-01

    Full Text Available Fourier transforms are a powerful tool in the prediction of DNA sequence properties, such as the presence/absence of codons. We have previously compiled a database of the structural properties of all 32,896 unique DNA octamers. In this work we apply Fourier techniques to the analysis of the structural properties of human chromosomes 21 and 22 and also to three sets of transcription factor binding sites within these chromosomes. We find that, for a given structural property, the structural property power spectra of chromosomes 21 and 22 are strikingly similar. We find common peaks in their power spectra for both Sp1 and p53 transcription factor binding sites. We use the power spectra as a structural fingerprint and perform similarity searching in order to find transcription factor binding site regions. This approach provides a new strategy for searching the genome data for information. Although it is difficult to understand the relationship between specific functional properties and the set of structural parameters in our database, our structural fingerprints nevertheless provide a useful tool for searching for function information in sequence data. The power spectrum fingerprints provide a simple, fast method for comparing a set of functional sequences, in this case transcription factor binding site regions, with the sequences of whole chromosomes. On its own, the power spectrum fingerprint does not find all transcription factor binding sites in a chromosome, but the results presented here show that in combination with other approaches, this technique will improve the chances of identifying functional sequences hidden in genomic data.

  4. Electrospun superhydrophobic membranes with unique structures for membrane distillation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liao, Yuan; Loh, Chun-Heng; Wang, Rong; Fane, Anthony G

    2014-09-24

    With modest temperature demand, low operating pressure, and high solute rejection, membrane distillation (MD) is an attractive option for desalination, waste treatment, and food and pharmaceutical processing. However, large-scale practical applications of MD are still hindered by the absence of effective membranes with high hydrophobicity, high porosity, and adequate mechanical strength, which are important properties for MD permeation fluxes, stable long-term performance, and effective packing in modules without damage. This study describes novel design strategies for highly robust superhydrophobic dual-layer membranes for MD via electrospinning. One of the newly developed membranes comprises a durable and ultrathin 3-dimensional (3D) superhydrophobic skin and porous nanofibrous support whereas another was fabricated by electrospinning 3D superhydrophobic layers on a nonwoven support. These membranes exhibit superhydrophobicity toward distilled water, salty water, oil-in-water emulsion, and beverages, which enables them to be used not only for desalination but also for other processes. The superhydrophobic dual-layer membrane #3S-N with nanofibrous support has a competitive permeation flux of 24.6 ± 1.2 kg m(-2) h(-1) in MD (feed and permeate temperate were set as 333 and 293 K, respectively) due to the higher porosity of the nanofibrous scaffold. Meanwhile, the membranes with the nonwoven support exhibit greater mechanical strength due to this support combined with better long-term performance because of the thicker 3D superhydrophobic layers. The morphology, pore size, porosity, mechanical properties, and liquid enter pressure of water of these superhydrophobic composite membranes with two different structures are reported and compared with commercial polyvinylidene fluoride membranes.

  5. Low energy ion beam systems for surface analytical and structural studies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nelson, G.C.

    1980-01-01

    This paper reviews the use of low energy ion beam systems for surface analytical and structural studies. Areas where analytical methods which utilize ion beams can provide a unique insight into materials problems are discussed. The design criteria of ion beam systems for performing materials studies are described and the systems now being used by a number of laboratories are reviewed. Finally, several specific problems are described where the solution was provided at least in part by information provided by low energy ion analysis techniques

  6. Who Acquires Information in Dealer Markets?

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Rudiger, Jesper; Vigier, Adrien

    2017-01-01

    We study information acquisition in dealer markets. We first identify a one-sided strategic complementarity in information acquisition: the more informed traders are, the larger market makers' gain from becoming informed. We then fully characterize the unique equilibrium as a function...... of the (uniform) cost of information, and the composition of the market in terms of liquidity traders and speculators. Lastly, we examine the implications of our analysis for market liquidity and price discovery. Our findings shed light on several empirical regularities....

  7. Remote monitoring of instrumented structures using the Internet information superhighway

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fuhr, Peter L.; Huston, Dryver R.; Ambrose, Timothy P.

    1994-09-01

    The requirements of sensor monitoring associated with instrumented civil structures poses potential logistical constraints on manpower, training, and costs. The need for frequent or even continuous data monitoring places potentially severe constraints on overall system performance given real-world factors such as available manpower, geographic separation of the instrumented structures, and data archiving as well as the training and cost issues. While the pool of available low wage, moderate skill workers available to the authors is sizable (undergraduate engineering students), the level of performance of such workers is quite variable leading to data acquisition integrity and continuity issues - matters that are not acceptable in the practical field implementation of such developed systems. In the case of acquiring data from the numerous sensors within the civil structures which the authors have instrumented (e.g., a multistory building, roadway/railway bridges, and a hydroelectric dam), we have found that many of these concerns may be alleviated through the use of an automated data acquisition system which archives the acquired information in an electronic location remotely accessible through the Internet global computer network. It is therefore a possible for the data monitoring to be performed at a remote location with the only requirements for data acquisition being Internet accessibility. A description of the developed scheme is presented as well as guiding philosophies.

  8. Plant risk status information management system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Campbell, D.J.; Ellison, B.C.; Glynn, J.C.; Flanagan, G.F.

    1985-01-01

    The Plant Risk Status Information Management System (PRISIMS) is a PC program that presents information about a nuclear power plant's design, its operation, its technical specifications, and the results of the plant's probabilistic risk assessment (PRA) in a logically and easily accessible format. PRISIMS provides its user with unique information for integrating safety concerns into day-to-day operational decisions and/or long-range management planning

  9. A uniquely specialized ear in a very early tetrapod.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Clack, J A; Ahlberg, P E; Finney, S M; Dominguez Alonso, P; Robinson, J; Ketcham, R A

    2003-09-04

    The Late Devonian genus Ichthyostega was for many decades the earliest known tetrapod, and the sole representative of a transitional form between a fish and a land vertebrate. However, despite being known since 1932 (ref. 1) from a large collection of specimens, its morphology remained enigmatic and not what was expected of a very primitive tetrapod. Its apparent specializations led it to be considered as a "blind offshoot" or "sidebranch" off the tetrapod family tree, and recent cladistic analyses have disagreed about its exact phylogenetic position within the tetrapod stem group. In particular, its braincase and ear region defied interpretation, such that conventional anatomical terms seemed inapplicable. Using new material collected in 1998 (ref. 9), preparation of earlier-collected material, and high-resolution computed tomography scanning, here we identify and interpret these problematic anatomical structures. They can now be seen to form part of a highly specialized ear, probably a hearing device for use in water. This represents a structurally and functionally unique modification of the tetrapod otic region, unlike anything seen in subsequent tetrapod evolution. The presence of deeply grooved gill bars as in its contemporary Acanthostega suggest that Ichthyostega may have been more aquatically adapted than previously believed.

  10. Information content and acoustic structure of male African elephant social rumbles.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stoeger, Angela S; Baotic, Anton

    2016-06-08

    Until recently, the prevailing theory about male African elephants (Loxodonta africana) was that, once adult and sexually mature, males are solitary and targeted only at finding estrous females. While this is true during the state of 'musth' (a condition characterized by aggressive behavior and elevated androgen levels), 'non-musth' males exhibit a social system seemingly based on companionship, dominance and established hierarchies. Research on elephant vocal communication has so far focused on females, and very little is known about the acoustic structure and the information content of male vocalizations. Using the source and filter theory approach, we analyzed social rumbles of 10 male African elephants. Our results reveal that male rumbles encode information about individuality and maturity (age and size), with formant frequencies and absolute fundamental frequency values having the most informative power. This first comprehensive study on male elephant vocalizations gives important indications on their potential functional relevance for male-male and male-female communication. Our results suggest that, similar to the highly social females, future research on male elephant vocal behavior will reveal a complex communication system in which social knowledge, companionship, hierarchy, reproductive competition and the need to communicate over long distances play key roles.

  11. Information management for decommissioning projects

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    LeClair, A.N.; Lemire, D.S.

    2011-01-01

    This paper explores the importance of records and information management for decommissioning projects. Key decommissioning information and elements of a sound information management strategy are identified. Various knowledge management strategies and tools are discussed as opportunities for leveraging decommissioning information. The paper also examines the implementation of Atomic Energy of Canada Limited's (AECL) strategy for the long term preservation of decommissioning information, and its initiatives in leveraging of information with the application of several knowledge management strategies and tools. The implementation of AECL's strategy illustrates common as well as unique information and knowledge management challenges and opportunities for decommissioning projects. (author)

  12. Vertical structure of predictability and information transport over the Northern Hemisphere

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Feng Ai-Xia; Wang Qi-Gang; Gong Zhi-Qiang; Feng Guo-Lin

    2014-01-01

    Based on nonlinear prediction and information theory, vertical heterogeneity of predictability and information loss rate in geopotential height field are obtained over the Northern Hemisphere. On a seasonal-to-interannual time scale, the predictability is low in the lower troposphere and high in the mid-upper troposphere. However, within mid-upper troposphere over the subtropics ocean area, there is a relatively poor predictability. These conclusions also fit the seasonal time scale. Moving to the interannual time scale, the predictability becomes high in the lower troposphere and low in the mid-upper troposphere, contrary to the former case. On the whole the interannual trend is more predictable than the seasonal trend. The average information loss rate is low over the mid-east Pacific, west of North America, Atlantic and Eurasia, and the atmosphere over other places has a relatively high information loss rate on all-time scales. Two channels are found steadily over the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Ocean in subtropics. There are also unstable channels. The four-season influence on predictability and information communication are studied. The predictability is low, no matter which season data are removed and each season plays an important role in the existence of the channels, except for the winter. The predictability and teleconnections are paramount issues in atmospheric science, and the teleconnections may be established by communication channels. So, this work is interesting since it reveals the vertical structure of predictability distribution, channel locations, and the contributions of different time scales to them and their variations under different seasons. (geophysics, astronomy, and astrophysics)

  13. The H0 function, a new index for detecting structural/topological complexity information in undirected graphs

    Science.gov (United States)

    Buscema, Massimo; Asadi-Zeydabadi, Masoud; Lodwick, Weldon; Breda, Marco

    2016-04-01

    Significant applications such as the analysis of Alzheimer's disease differentiated from dementia, or in data mining of social media, or in extracting information of drug cartel structural composition, are often modeled as graphs. The structural or topological complexity or lack of it in a graph is quite often useful in understanding and more importantly, resolving the problem. We are proposing a new index we call the H0function to measure the structural/topological complexity of a graph. To do this, we introduce the concept of graph pruning and its associated algorithm that is used in the development of our measure. We illustrate the behavior of our measure, the H0 function, through different examples found in the appendix. These examples indicate that the H0 function contains information that is useful and important characteristics of a graph. Here, we restrict ourselves to undirected.

  14. Information technology developments within the national biological information infrastructure

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cotter, G.; Frame, M.T.

    2000-01-01

    Looking out an office window or exploring a community park, one can easily see the tremendous challenges that biological information presents the computer science community. Biological information varies in format and content depending whether or not it is information pertaining to a particular species (i.e. Brown Tree Snake), or a specific ecosystem, which often includes multiple species, land use characteristics, and geospatially referenced information. The complexity and uniqueness of each individual species or ecosystem do not easily lend themselves to today's computer science tools and applications. To address the challenges that the biological enterprise presents the National Biological Information Infrastructure (NBII) (http://www.nbii.gov) was established in 1993. The NBII is designed to address these issues on a National scale within the United States, and through international partnerships abroad. This paper discusses current computer science efforts within the National Biological Information Infrastructure Program and future computer science research endeavors that are needed to address the ever-growing issues related to our Nation's biological concerns.

  15. Father involvement: Identifying and predicting family members' shared and unique perceptions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dyer, W Justin; Day, Randal D; Harper, James M

    2014-08-01

    Father involvement research has typically not recognized that reports of involvement contain at least two components: 1 reflecting a view of father involvement that is broadly recognized in the family, and another reflecting each reporter's unique perceptions. Using a longitudinal sample of 302 families, this study provides a first examination of shared and unique views of father involvement (engagement and warmth) from the perspectives of fathers, children, and mothers. This study also identifies influences on these shared and unique perspectives. Father involvement reports were obtained when the child was 12 and 14 years old. Mother reports overlapped more with the shared view than father or child reports. This suggests the mother's view may be more in line with broadly recognized father involvement. Regarding antecedents, for fathers' unique view, a compensatory model partially explains results; that is, negative aspects of family life were positively associated with fathers' unique view. Children's unique view of engagement may partially reflect a sentiment override with father antisocial behaviors being predictive. Mothers' unique view of engagement was predicted by father and mother work hours and her unique view of warmth was predicted by depression and maternal gatekeeping. Taken, together finding suggests a far more nuanced view of father involvement should be considered.

  16. Uniqueness of solutions for a mathematical model for magneto-viscoelastic flows

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schlömerkemper, A.; Žabenský, J.

    2018-06-01

    We investigate uniqueness of weak solutions for a system of partial differential equations capturing behavior of magnetoelastic materials. This system couples the Navier–Stokes equations with evolutionary equations for the deformation gradient and for the magnetization obtained from a special case of the micromagnetic energy. It turns out that the conditions on uniqueness coincide with those for the well-known Navier–Stokes equations in bounded domains: weak solutions are unique in two spatial dimensions, and weak solutions satisfying the Prodi–Serrin conditions are unique among all weak solutions in three dimensions. That is, we obtain the so-called weak-strong uniqueness result in three spatial dimensions.

  17. Information Management Workflow and Tools Enabling Multiscale Modeling Within ICME Paradigm

    Science.gov (United States)

    Arnold, Steven M.; Bednarcyk, Brett A.; Austin, Nic; Terentjev, Igor; Cebon, Dave; Marsden, Will

    2016-01-01

    With the increased emphasis on reducing the cost and time to market of new materials, the need for analytical tools that enable the virtual design and optimization of materials throughout their processing - internal structure - property - performance envelope, along with the capturing and storing of the associated material and model information across its lifecycle, has become critical. This need is also fueled by the demands for higher efficiency in material testing; consistency, quality and traceability of data; product design; engineering analysis; as well as control of access to proprietary or sensitive information. Fortunately, material information management systems and physics-based multiscale modeling methods have kept pace with the growing user demands. Herein, recent efforts to establish workflow for and demonstrate a unique set of web application tools for linking NASA GRC's Integrated Computational Materials Engineering (ICME) Granta MI database schema and NASA GRC's Integrated multiscale Micromechanics Analysis Code (ImMAC) software toolset are presented. The goal is to enable seamless coupling between both test data and simulation data, which is captured and tracked automatically within Granta MI®, with full model pedigree information. These tools, and this type of linkage, are foundational to realizing the full potential of ICME, in which materials processing, microstructure, properties, and performance are coupled to enable application-driven design and optimization of materials and structures.

  18. Strategic information transmission and stochastic orders

    OpenAIRE

    Szalay, Dezsö

    2012-01-01

    I develop new results on uniqueness and comparative statics of equilibria in the Crawford and Sobel (1982) strategic information transmission game. For a class of utility functions, I demonstrate that logconcavity of the density implies uniqueness of equilibria inducing a given number of Receiver actions. I provide comparative statics results with respect to the distribution of types for distributions that are comparable in the likelihood ratio order, implying, e.g., that advice from a better...

  19. Classification of Hyperspectral Images by SVM Using a Composite Kernel by Employing Spectral, Spatial and Hierarchical Structure Information

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yi Wang

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available In this paper, we introduce a novel classification framework for hyperspectral images (HSIs by jointly employing spectral, spatial, and hierarchical structure information. In this framework, the three types of information are integrated into the SVM classifier in a way of multiple kernels. Specifically, the spectral kernel is constructed through each pixel’s vector value in the original HSI, and the spatial kernel is modeled by using the extended morphological profile method due to its simplicity and effectiveness. To accurately characterize hierarchical structure features, the techniques of Fish-Markov selector (FMS, marker-based hierarchical segmentation (MHSEG and algebraic multigrid (AMG are combined. First, the FMS algorithm is used on the original HSI for feature selection to produce its spectral subset. Then, the multigrid structure of this subset is constructed using the AMG method. Subsequently, the MHSEG algorithm is exploited to obtain a hierarchy consist of a series of segmentation maps. Finally, the hierarchical structure information is represented by using these segmentation maps. The main contributions of this work is to present an effective composite kernel for HSI classification by utilizing spatial structure information in multiple scales. Experiments were conducted on two hyperspectral remote sensing images to validate that the proposed framework can achieve better classification results than several popular kernel-based classification methods in terms of both qualitative and quantitative analysis. Specifically, the proposed classification framework can achieve 13.46–15.61% in average higher than the standard SVM classifier under different training sets in the terms of overall accuracy.

  20. Uniqueness of the electrostatic solution in Schwarzschild space

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Molnar, Pal G.; Elsaesser, Klaus

    2003-01-01

    In this Brief Report we give the proof that the solution of any static test charge distribution in Schwarzschild space is unique. In order to give the proof we derive the first Green's identity written with p-forms on (pseudo) Riemannian manifolds. Moreover, the proof of uniqueness can be shown for either any purely electric or purely magnetic field configuration. The spacetime geometry is not crucial for the proof