Expressive Stream Reasoning with Laser

An increasing number of use cases require a timely extraction of non-trivial knowledge from semantically annotated data streams, especially on the Web and for the Internet of Things (IoT). Often, this extraction requires expressive reasoning, which is challenging to compute on large streams. We propose Laser, a new reasoner that supports a pragmatic, non-trivial fragment of the logic LARS which extends Answer Set Programming (ASP) for streams. At its core, Laser implements a novel evaluation procedure which annotates formulae to avoid the re-computation of duplicates at multiple time points. This procedure, combined with a judicious implementation of the LARS operators, is responsible for significantly better runtimes than the ones of other state-of-the-art systems like C-SPARQL and CQELS, or an implementation of LARS which runs on the ASP solver Clingo. This enables the application of expressive logic-based reasoning to large streams and opens the door to a wider range of stream reasoning use cases.Comment: 19 pages, 5 figures. Extended version of accepted paper at ISWC 201

Rapid turnover of effector-memory CD4(+) T cells in healthy humans

Memory T cells can be divided into central-memory (T(CM)) and effector-memory (T(EM)) cells, which differ in their functional properties. Although both subpopulations can persist long term, it is not known whether they are maintained by similar mechanisms. We used in vivo labeling with deuterated glucose to measure the turnover of CD4(+) T cells in healthy humans. The CD45R0(+)CCR7(-) T(EM) subpopulation was shown to have a rapid proliferation rate of 4.7% per day compared with 1.5% per day for CD45R0(+)CCR7(+) T(CM) cells; these values are equivalent to average intermitotic (doubling) times of 15 and 48 d, respectively. In contrast, the CD45RA(+)CCR7(+) naive CD4(+) T cell population was found to be much longer lived, being labeled at a rate of only 0.2% per day (corresponding to an intermitotic time of approximately 1 yr). These data indicate that human CD4(+) T(EM) cells constitute a short-lived cell population that requires continuous replenishment in vivo

Molecular characterization of Cymbidium kanran cultivars based on extended random amplified polymorphic DNA (ERAPD) markers

Fifty-four Cymbidium kanran cultivars from China, Japan and Korea were examined and analyzed by using the successive screening of 3'-end extended random primer amplified polymorphic DNA (ERAPD) markers to determine their molecular diversity and relationships. In ERAPD analyses, the strandspecific DNA sequence of direct oligonucleotide extension sequencing primers was independently read from each of the RAPD fragments without recourse to cloning or strand separation. Eight primers, identified from 80 original RAPD primers, produced strong repetitive polymorphic bands that were used in 3'-end-extended random primer amplified DNA marker analysis. The products of primers ACTGAACGCCCG + ACTGAACGCCGG and ACTGAACGCCC + ACTGAACGCC, linked to the same locus (2.5 - kb), were developed from the original ACTGAACGC RAPD primer; the products of this marker were more stable and specific than the original RAPD marker. Unweighted pair-group mean analysis (UPGMA) grouped them into two clusters based upon geographical traits. We demonstrated that the ERAPD technique is a powerful tool for cultivar identification and establishment of genetic relationships of cultivars in Cymbidium kanran.Key words: Cymbidium kanran; genetic relationship; Extended random amplified polymorphic DNA (ERAPD

Loss of TOP3B leads to increased R-loop formation and genome instability

Topoisomerase III beta (TOP3B) is one of the least understood members of the topoisomerase family of proteins and remains enigmatic. Our recent data shed light on the function and relevance of TOP3B to disease. A homozygous deletion for the TOP3B gene was identified in a patient with bilateral renal cancer. Analyses in both patient and modelled human cells show the disruption of TOP3B causes genome instability with a rise in DNA damage and chromosome bridging (mis-segregation). The primary molecular defect underlying this pathology is a significant increase in R-loop formation. Our data show that TOP3B is necessary to prevent the accumulation of excessive R-loops and identify TOP3B as a putative cancer gene, and support recent data showing that R-loops are involved in cancer aetiology

Broadband High-Gain SIW Cavity-Backed Circular-Polarized Array Antenna

© 2016 IEEE. A circularly polarized (CP) 4 × 4 array antenna based on substrate integrated waveguide (SIW) technology is presented. Circular polarization is achieved by applying the sequential rotation technique (SRT) with a well-designed sequential feed network and linear-polarized array elements. The proposed 4 × 4 array has a wide axial ratio (AR) bandwidth of 14% from 18.3 to 21.1 GHz with gain > 13 dBic. Then, the array is expanded to achieve higher gains. A 16 × 16-element array is designed, fabricated, and tested. Test results show that the 16 × 16 array has an AR bandwidth of 13.8% from 18.5 to 21.25 GHz and a peak gain of 25.9 dBic at 20.5 GHz

On the Stability and Structural Dynamics of Metal Nanowires

This article presents a brief review of the nanoscale free-electron model, which provides a continuum description of metal nanostructures. It is argued that surface and quantum-size effects are the two dominant factors in the energetics of metal nanowires, and that much of the phenomenology of nanowire stability and structural dynamics can be understood based on the interplay of these two competing factors. A linear stability analysis reveals that metal nanocylinders with certain magic conductance values G=1, 3, 6, 12, 17, 23, 34, 42, 51, 67, 78, 96, ... times the conductance quantum are exceptionally stable. A nonlinear dynamical simulation of nanowire structural evolution reveals a universal equilibrium shape consisting of a magic cylinder suspended between unduloidal contacts. The lifetimes of these metastable structures are also computed.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figure

BLOC-2 subunit HPS6 deficiency affects the tubulation and secretion of von Willebrand factor from mouse endothelial cells

Hermansky-Pudlak syndrome (HPS) is a recessive disorder with bleeding diathesis, which has been linked to platelet granule defects. Both platelet granules and endothelial Weibel-Palade bodies (WPBs) are members of lysosome-related organelles (LROs) whose formation is regulated by HPS protein associated complexes such as BLOC (biogenesis of lysosome organelles complex) -1, -2, -3, AP-3 (adaptor protein complex-3) and HOPS (homotypic fusion and protein sorting complex). Von Willebrand factor (VWF) is critical to hemostasis, which is stored in a highly-multimerized form as tubules in the WPBs. In this study, we found the defective, but varying, release of VWF into plasma after desmopressin (DDAVP) stimulation in HPS1 (BLOC-3 subunit), HPS6 (BLOC-2 subunit), and HPS9 (BLOC-1 subunit) deficient mice. In particular, VWF tubulation, a critical step in VWF maturation, was impaired in HPS6 deficient WPBs. This likely reflects a defective endothelium, contributing to the bleeding tendency in HPS mice or patients. The differentially defective regulated release of VWF in these HPS mouse models suggests the need for precise HPS genotyping before DDAVP administration to HPS patients

Impurity effects on charge transport and magnetoconductance in a single layer poly(3-hexyl-thiophene) device

received: 2016-01-10 accepted: 2016-05-05 published: 2016-05-17The work was supported by the China Scholarship Council and Engineering (HG, SC, HL, TZ, JH), National Science Foundation of China, 61574095, and Physical Sciences Research Council Grant Nos. EP/J50029X/1, EP/K004484/1, and EP/L020114/1

Topological Homogeneity for Electron Microscopy Images

In this paper, the concept of homogeneity is defined, from a topological perspective, in order to analyze how uniform is the material composition in 2D electron microscopy images. Topological multiresolution parameters are taken into account to obtain better results than classical techniques.Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad MTM2016-81030-PMinisterio de Economía y Competitividad TEC2012-37868-C04-0