Using Alloy to model-check visual design notations

This paper explores the process of validation for the abstract syntax of a graphical notation. We define an unified specification for five of the UML diagrams used by the Discovery Method and, in this document, we illustrate how diagrams can be represented in Alloy and checked against our specification in order to know if these are valid under the Discovery notation.Comment: 8 page

Integration of a Canine Agent in a Wireless Sensor Network for Information Gathering in Search and Rescue Missions

Search and rescue operations in the context of emergency response to human or natural disasters have the major goal of finding potential victims in the shortest possible time. Multi-agent teams, which can include specialized human respondents, robots and canine units, complement the strengths and weaknesses of each agent, like all-terrain mobility or capability to locate human beings. However, efficient coordination of heterogeneous agents requires specific means to locate the agents, and to provide them with the information they require to complete their mission. The major contribution of this work is an application of Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN) to gather information from a multi-agent team and to make it available to the rest of the agents while keeping coverage. In particular, a canine agent has been equipped with a mobile node installed on a harness, providing information about the dog’s location as well as gas levels. The configuration of the mobile node allows for flexible arrangement of the system, being able to integrate static as well as mobile nodes. The gathered information is available at an external database, so that the rest of the agents and the control center can use it in real time. The proposed scheme has been tested in realistic scenarios during search and rescue exercises

Evaluation of a Single Nucleotide Polymorphism Baseline for Genetic Stock Identification of Chinook Salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) in the California Current Large Marine Ecosystem

Chinook Salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) is an economically and ecologically important species, and populations from the west coast of North America are a major component of fisheries in the North Pacific Ocean. The anadromous life history strategy of this species generates populations (or stocks) that typically are differentiated from neighboring populations. In many cases, it is desirable to discern the stock of origin of an individual fish or the stock composition of a mixed sample to monitor the stock-specific effects of anthropogenic impacts and alter management strategies accordingly. Genetic stock identification (GSI) provides such discrimination, and we describe here a novel GSI baseline composed of genotypes from more than 8000 individual fish from 69 distinct populations at 96 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) loci. The populations included in this baseline represent the likely sources for more than 99% of the salmon encountered in ocean fisheries of California and Oregon. This new genetic baseline permits GSI with the use of rapid and cost-effective SNP genotyping, and power analyses indicate that it provides very accurate identification of important stocks of Chinook Salmon. In an ocean fishery sample, GSI assignments of more than 1000 fish, with our baseline, were highly concordant (98.95%) at the reporting unit level with information from the physical tags recovered from the same fish. This SNP baseline represents an important advance in the technologies available to managers and researchers of this species

CC Chemokine receptor (CCR)3/eotaxin is followed by CCR4/monocyte-derived chemokine in mediating pulmonary T helper lymphocyte type 2 recruitment after serial antigen challenge in vivo

El copyright pertenece a The Rockefeller University PressIsolated peripheral blood CD4 cells from allergic individuals express CC chemokine receptor (CCR)3 and CCR4 after expansion in vitro. In addition, human T helper type 2 (Th2) cells polarized in vitro selectively express CCR3 and CCR4 at certain stages of activation/differentiation and respond preferentially to the ligands eotaxin and monocyte-derived chemokine (MDC). However, controversy arises when the in vivo significance of this distinct expression is discussed. To address the functional role of CCR3/eotaxin and CCR4/MDC during the in vivo recruitment of Th2 cells, we have transferred effector Th cells into naive mice to induce allergic airway disease. Tracking of these cells after repeated antigen challenge has established that both CCR3/eotaxin and CCR4/MDC axes contribute to the recruitment of Th2 cells to the lung, demonstrating the in vivo relevance of the expression of these receptors on Th2 cells. We have shown that involvement of the CCR3/eotaxin pathway is confined to early stages of the response in vivo, whereas repeated antigen stimulation results in the predominant use of the CCR4/MDC pathway. We propose that effector Th2 cells respond to both CCR3/eotaxin and CCR4/MDC pathways initially, but that a progressive increase in CCR4-positive cells results in the predomipredominance of the CCR4/MDC axis in the long-term recruitment of Th2 cells in vivo.Peer reviewe

Insulin clearance and the incidence of type 2 diabetes in Hispanics and African Americans: the IRAS Family Study.

ObjectiveWe aimed to identify factors that are independently associated with the metabolic clearance rate of insulin (MCRI) and to examine the association of MCRI with incident type 2 diabetes in nondiabetic Hispanics and African Americans.Research design and methodsWe investigated 1,116 participants in the Insulin Resistance Atherosclerosis Study (IRAS) Family Study with baseline examinations from 2000 to 2002 and follow-up examinations from 2005 to 2006. Insulin sensitivity (S(I)), acute insulin response (AIR), and MCRI were determined at baseline from frequently sampled intravenous glucose tolerance tests. MCRI was calculated as the ratio of the insulin dose over the incremental area under the curve of insulin. Incident diabetes was defined as fasting glucose ≥126 mg/dL or antidiabetic medication use by self-report.ResultsWe observed that S(I) and HDL cholesterol were independent positive correlates of MCRI, whereas fasting insulin, fasting glucose, subcutaneous adipose tissue, visceral adipose tissue, and AIR were independent negative correlates (all P < 0.05) at baseline. After 5 years of follow-up, 71 (6.4%) participants developed type 2 diabetes. Lower MCRI was associated with a higher risk of incident diabetes after adjusting for demographics, lifestyle factors, HDL cholesterol, indexes of obesity and adiposity, and insulin secretion (odds ratio 2.01 [95% CI 1.30-3.10], P = 0.0064, per one-SD decrease in loge-transformed MCRI).ConclusionsOur data showed that lower MCRI predicts the incidence of type 2 diabetes

Trichloromethyl chloroformate ("diphosgene"), ClC(O)OCCl 3: Structure and conformational properties in the gaseous and condensed phases

The conformational properties of gaseous trichloromethyl chloroformate (or “diphosgene”), ClC(O)- OCCl3, have been studied by vibrational spectroscopy [IR (gas), IR (matrix), and Raman (liquid)] and quantum chemical calculations (MP2 and B3LYP with 6-311G* basis sets); in addition, the structure of a single crystal at low temperature has been determined by X-ray diffraction. ClC(O)OCCl3 exhibits only one conformational form having Cs symmetry with a synperiplanar orientation of the C-O single bond relative to the CdO double bond. The calculated energy difference between the syn and anti forms, 5.73 kcal mol-1 (B3LYP) or 7.06 kcal mol-1 (MP2), is consistent with the experimental findings for the gas and liquid phases. The crystalline solid at 150 K [monoclinic, P21/n, a ) 5.5578(5) Å, b ) 14.2895(12) Å, c ) 8.6246(7) Å, â ) 102.443(2)°, Z ) 4] likewise consists only of molecules in the syn form.Fil: Arce, Valeria Beatriz. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Centro de Química Inorgánica "Dr. Pedro J. Aymonino". Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas. Centro de Química Inorgánica "Dr. Pedro J. Aymonino"; ArgentinaFil: Della Vedova, Carlos Omar. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Centro de Química Inorgánica "Dr. Pedro J. Aymonino". Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas. Centro de Química Inorgánica "Dr. Pedro J. Aymonino"; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas. Departamento de Química. Laboratorio de Servicios a la Industria y al Sistema Científico; ArgentinaFil: Downs, Anthony J.. University of Oxford; Reino UnidoFil: Parsons, Simon. University of Edinburgh; Reino UnidoFil: Romano, Rosana Mariel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Centro de Química Inorgánica "Dr. Pedro J. Aymonino". Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas. Centro de Química Inorgánica "Dr. Pedro J. Aymonino"; Argentin

Desarrollo y comportamiento de epidinocarsis (= apoanagyrus) diversicomis howard (encyrtidae) enemigo natural de phenacoccus herreni cox and amp; williams (pseudococcidae)

El tiempo de desarrollo fue de 35.72 días a 20°C,de20.15 a 25°C y de 18.12 a 30°C. La mejor dieta para la cría del parasitoide fue la de agua azucarada, con una longevidad promedia de 26.34 días. La temperatura mínima de desarrollo fue de 13.5°C y el tiempo fisiológico de desarrollo total de 230.97 grados-día. El encirtido presenta partenogénesis telytokia, parásita todos los estados del hospedante, pero prefiere atacar las ninfas de tercero y adulto hembra. El primer instar ninfal fue el más afectado por la acción parasítica (13.22 % de mortalidad). La encapsulación de los estados inmaduros del parasitoide fue mayor en el segundo instar (9.22 %) que la del grupo tercer instar + hembra adulto (5.2 %) y fue mayor a 25 (10.26 do) que a 30°C (3.56 o/o).The development and behavior of Epidinocarsis diversicornis (Encyrtidae), a parasite of Phenacoccus herreni Pseudococcidae) was studied. Developmental time was 35.72 at 20°C, 20.15 at 25°C and 18.12 at 30°C. The most favorable diet for rearing was sugar water which gave average longevity of 26.34 d él vs . The lover developmental threshold was estimated at 13.5°C and the physiological time for developm ent from egg to adult was 230.97°D (degree-day). The females of E. diversicornis H . reproduce by thelytokolous parthenogenesis and are able to parasitize all the stages of their host. Third instar nyrnphs and adult fe• males are prefered, however of first nyrnphs suffer the greatest mortality due to parasitizacion (13.22 olo). Second instar P. herreni, and third instar and adult females encapsulated 9.22 y 5.2 % respectively to the inmature stages of E. diversicornis

Accelerated Calder\'on preconditioning for Maxwell transmission problems

We investigate a range of techniques for the acceleration of Calder\'on (operator) preconditioning in the context of boundary integral equation methods for electromagnetic transmission problems. Our objective is to mitigate as far as possible the high computational cost of the barycentrically-refined meshes necessary for the stable discretisation of operator products. Our focus is on the well-known PMCHWT formulation, but the techniques we introduce can be applied generically. By using barycentric meshes only for the preconditioner and not for the original boundary integral operator, we achieve significant reductions in computational cost by (i) using "reduced" Calder\'on preconditioners obtained by discarding constituent boundary integral operators that are not essential for regularisation, and (ii) adopting a ``bi-parametric'' approach in which we use a lower quality (cheaper) $\mathcal{H}$-matrix assembly routine for the preconditioner than for the original operator, including a novel approach of discarding far-field interactions in the preconditioner. Using the boundary element software Bempp (www.bempp.com), we compare the performance of different combinations of these techniques in the context of scattering by multiple dielectric particles. Applying our accelerated implementation to 3D electromagnetic scattering by an aggregate consisting of 8 monomer ice crystals of overall diameter 1cm at 664GHz leads to a 99% reduction in memory cost and at least a 75% reduction in total computation time compared to a non-accelerated implementation

Oral serum-derived bovine immunoglobulin improves duodenal immune reconstitution and absorption function in patients with HIV enteropathy.

ObjectivesTo examine the impact of serum-derived bovine immunoglobulin, an oral medical food known to neutralize bacterial antigen and reduce intestinal inflammation, on restoration of mucosal immunity and gastrointestinal function in individuals with HIV enteropathy.DesignOpen-label trial with intensive 8-week phase of bovine serum immunoglobulin (SBI) 2.5 g twice daily with a 4-week washout period and an optional 9-month extension study.MethodsHIV enteropathy was defined as chronic gastrointestinal symptoms including frequent loose or watery stools despite no identifiable, reversible cause. Upper endoscopy for tissue immunofluorescent antibody assay and disaccharide gut permeability/absorption studies were performed before and after 8 weeks of SBI to test mucosal immunity and gastrointestinal function. Blood was collected for markers of microbial translocation, inflammation, and collagen kinetics. A validated gastrointestinal questionnaire assessed changes in symptoms.ResultsAll eight participants experienced profound improvement in symptoms with reduced bowel movements/day (P = 0.008) and improvements in stool consistency (P = 0.008). Gut permeability was normal before and after the intervention, but D-xylose absorption increased in seven of eight participants. Mucosal CD4 lymphocyte densities increased by a median of 139.5 cells/mm2 from 213 to 322 cells/mm2 (P = 0.016). Intestinal-fatty acid binding protein (I-FABP), a marker of enterocyte damage, initially rose in seven of eight participants after 8 weeks (P = 0.039), and then fell below baseline in four of five who continued receiving SBI (P = 0.12). Baseline serum I-FABP levels were negatively correlated with subsequent rise in mucosal CD4 lymphocyte densities (r = -0.74, P = 0.046).ConclusionSBI significantly increases intestinal mucosal CD4 lymphocyte counts, improves duodenal function, and showed evidence of promoting intestinal repair in the setting of HIV enteropathy