Chemical structure matching using correlation matrix memories

This paper describes the application of the Relaxation By Elimination (RBE) method to matching the 3D structure of molecules in chemical databases within the frame work of binary correlation matrix memories. The paper illustrates that, when combined with distributed representations, the method maps well onto these networks, allowing high performance implementation in parallel systems. It outlines the motivation, the neural architecture, the RBE method and presents some results of matching small molecules against a database of 100,000 models

Improved AURA k-Nearest Neighbour approach

The k-Nearest Neighbour (kNN) approach is a widely-used technique for pattern classification. Ranked distance measurements to a known sample set determine the classification of unknown samples. Though effective, kNN, like most classification methods does not scale well with increased sample size. This is due to their being a relationship between the unknown query and every other sample in the data space. In order to make this operation scalable, we apply AURA to the kNN problem. AURA is a highly-scalable associative-memory based binary neural-network intended for high-speed approximate search and match operations on large unstructured datasets. Previous work has seen AURA methods applied to this problem as a scalable, but approximate kNN classifier. This paper continues this work by using AURA in conjunction with kernel-based input vectors, in order to create a fast scalable kNN classifier, whilst improving recall accuracy to levels similar to standard kNN implementations

The Nutritional Content of Main Course Ready-meals Aimed at Children Aged 12 Months to 3 Years

Background: Rapid changes to dietary and lifestyle patterns have transformed the home and food environment with an increased trend towards convenience in home food preparation and ready-meal availability [1]. Despite the widespread use of convenience foods, there is a lack of research into the nutritional quality of convenience foods for young children. This study examined the nutritional content of ready-meals for children aged 12 months to 3 years. The objectives of this study were to (i) investigate the nutritional quality of ready-meals, on sale in the UK market for children aged 12 months to 3 years, comparing their nutrition labelling information to dietary standards, (ii) identify the nutrition claims on the packaging of ready-meals for this age group and (iii) determine whether the nutrition claims identified met European Union legislation. Methods: A sample of main course ready-meals (n=38) marketed to children aged 12 months to 3 years from five brands, available in the UK was assessed. One ready-meal represents only a proportion of energy and nutrients consumed per day, therefore dietary standards were obtained taking 30% of age-appropriate dietary reference values (DRVs). The energy, protein and sodium content of these ready-meals were compared to the calculated dietary standards using one sample t-tests. Descriptive analysis was performed on all nutritional information (energy, carbohydrate, sugars, protein, fat, saturated fat, fibre, sodium and iron) collected. Nutrition claims were validated against legislative requirements [2,3,4]. Results: All ready-meals examined were significantly lower in energy (p=0.000) and higher in protein (p=0.000) compared to the dietary standards. Sodium was significantly higher than the dietary standard in three brands; brand 1 (p=0.000), 3 (p=0.004) and 5 (p=0.03), with brand 5 containing only 65mg less than the DRV (500mg) for total daily allowance. Four of the nutrition claims made across the brands were assessed - “no added salt”, “no added sugar”, “low salt” and “source of iron”. Only brand 1 and 5 did not meet legislation for “no added salt” as the ready-meals contained more than the amount of sodium per 100g permitted. All other nutrition claims conformed to legislative requirements; however the majority of ready-meals from brand 1 did contain ingredients with added salt and/or sugar e.g. mustard or sun-dried tomato, despite claims of “no added salt/sugar” and this could misinform consumers. Discussion: The ready-meals investigated did not meet calculated dietary standards and although the majority of nutrition claims displayed on the packaging did meet legislation, some claims did not and there were claims that could mislead consumers. There is paucity in research into the nutritional quality of convenience foods for young children and therefore comparisons between this study and other work cannot be drawn. Furthermore, since comprehensive dietary standards are unavailable for this age group, it is difficult to fully assess the nutritional adequacy of these ready-meals. Conclusion: The development of nutritional standards and transparent nutrition claim legislation would enable practitioners to fully assess the adequacy of children’s diets and enable consumers to make healthier food choices. Keywords : Children’s ready-meals; convenience foods; nutrition labelling

Long-range coupling and scalable architecture for superconducting flux qubits

Constructing a fault-tolerant quantum computer is a daunting task. Given any design, it is possible to determine the maximum error rate of each type of component that can be tolerated while still permitting arbitrarily large-scale quantum computation. It is an underappreciated fact that including an appropriately designed mechanism enabling long-range qubit coupling or transport substantially increases the maximum tolerable error rates of all components. With this thought in mind, we take the superconducting flux qubit coupling mechanism described in PRB 70, 140501 (2004) and extend it to allow approximately 500 MHz coupling of square flux qubits, 50 um a side, at a distance of up to several mm. This mechanism is then used as the basis of two scalable architectures for flux qubits taking into account crosstalk and fault-tolerant considerations such as permitting a universal set of logical gates, parallelism, measurement and initialization, and data mobility.Comment: 8 pages, 11 figure

Nicotinamide treatment in a murine model of familial tumoral calcinosis reduces serum Fgf23 and raises heart calcium

Mutations in the GALNT3 gene result in familial tumoral calcinosis, characterized by persistent hyperphosphatemia and ectopic calcific masses in soft tissues. Since calcific masses often recur after surgical removal, a more permanent solution to the problem is required. Nicotinamide is reported to lower serum phosphate by decreasing sodium-dependent phosphate co-transporters in the gut and kidney. However, its effectiveness in tumoral calcinosis remains unknown. In this study, we investigated nicotinamide as a potential therapy for tumoral calcinosis, using a murine model of the disease-Galnt3 knockout mice. Initially, five different doses of nicotinamide were given to normal heterozygous mice intraperitoneally or orally. Treatment had no effect on serum phosphate levels, but serum levels of a phosphaturic hormone, fibroblast growth factor 23 (Fgf23), decreased in a dose-dependent manner. Subsequently, high-dose nicotinamide (40mM) was tested in Galnt3 knockout mice fed a high phosphate diet. The radiographic data pre- and post-treatment showed that nicotinamide did not reverse the calcification. However, the treatment retarded calcification growth after 4weeks, while in the untreated animals, calcifications increased in size. The therapy did not affect serum phosphate levels, but intact Fgf23 decreased in the treated mice. The treated mice also had increased calcium in the heart. In summary, nicotinamide did not alter serum phosphate levels, likely due to compensatory decrease in Fgf23 to counteract the phosphate lowering effect of nicotinamide. Although increased calcium accumulation in the heart is a concern, the therapy appears to slow down the progression of ectopic calcifications

A novel wide-band tunable RF phase shifter using a variable optical directional coupler

We present a novel RF phase-shifter design with a usable bandwidth of 80:1. The design is verified through demonstration of a proof of concept device, consisting of a readily available voltage variable optical coupler fabricated from LiNbO3, combined with an fiber-optic delay line. The design is analyzed theoretically and measurement of the device confirms the predicted range of operation. Methods of extension of this range of operation are discusse

Do Hadronic Charge Exchange Reactions Measure Electroweak L = 1 Strength?

An eikonal model has been used to assess the relationship between calculated strengths for first forbidden beta decay and calculated cross sections for (p,n) charge exchange reactions. It is found that these are proportional for strong transitions, suggesting that hadronic charge exchange reactions may be useful in determining the spin-dipole matrix elements for astrophysically interesting leptonic transitions.Comment: 14 pages, 5 figures, Submitted to Physical Review

Fast Split-Radix and Radix-4 Discrete Cosine Transform Algorithms

The Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT) has a plethora of applications in applied mathematics and electrical engineering. Discrete Cosine Transform (DCT) is a real-arithmetic analogue of DFT. DCTs with orthogonal trigonometric transforms have been especially popular in recent decades due to their applications in digital video technology and high efficiency video coding. One can say that DCT is the key transform in image processing, signal processing, finger print enhancement, quick response code (QR code), multi-mode interface, etc. In this talk, we first introduce sparse and scaled orthogonal factorization for the DCT and inverse DCT. Afterwards, we present fast split-radix and radix-4 DCT and inverse DCT algorithms. We show that the proposed algorithms attain the lowest theoretical multiplication complexity and arithmetic complexity for 8-point DCT II/III matrices. We perform execution time of the proposed algorithms while verifying the connection to the order of the arithmetic complexity. Finally, the language of signal flow graph representation of digital structures is used to describe potential for real-world circuit implementation

Exploring multi-stakeholder perceptions of practice-related facilitators to optimising the quality of integration of regulated pharmacy technicians in community pharmacy in Ontario: A qualitative study

OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study was to investigate multi-stakeholder perceptions of practice-related facilitators to optimising the quality of Regulated Pharmacy Technician (RPT) integration into the community workforce in Ontario. Facilitators to incorporating technicians into the workflow and supporting their optimal scope of practice were explored. METHODS: A qualitative exploratory study comprising a series of one-to-one interviews using a piloted, semi-structured interview guide was conducted with four community pharmacy stakeholder groups; pharmacists, RPTs, pharmacy assistants and pharmacy owners. Interviews were conducted until saturation of themes. Verbatim transcripts were coded inductively using the software, NVivo v12 (QSR International) and general inductive analysis identified key findings. KEY FINDINGS: Twenty-seven interviews were conducted consisting of seven pharmacists, seven RPTs, eight assistants and five pharmacy owners working within community pharmacy and/or academia or hospital. All participants from every stakeholder group acknowledged that the promise of regulation of pharmacy technicians was unfulfilled in practice. Three major themes of practical significance were derived: (i) A viable business plan that incorporates RPT remuneration and ensures sustainability is a facilitator to fuller integration of RPTs, (ii) Planning the pharmacy workflow to support RPTs’ and pharmacists’ evolving scopes is a facilitator to RPT integration and (iii) Schedule planning to incorporate RPTs and appropriate staffing ratios in relation to prescription volume and pharmacy services allows for optimal utilisation of RPT skills and facilitates their integration. CONCLUSIONS: Achieving integration of RPTs into the business of a community pharmacy has educational, workplace and regulatory implications, requiring the effective engagement of all stakeholders in pharmacy

What's the point of knowing how?

Why is it useful to talk and think about knowledge-how? Using Edward Craig’s discussion of the function of the concepts of knowledge and knowledge-how as a jumping off point, this paper argues that considering this question can offer us new angles on the debate about knowledge-how. We consider two candidate functions for the concept of knowledge-how: pooling capacities, and mutual reliance. Craig makes the case for pooling capacities, which connects knowledge-how to our need to pool practical capacities. I argue that the evidence is much more equivocal. My suggested diagnosis is that the concept of knowledge-how plays both functions, meaning that the concept of knowledge-how is inconsistent, and that the debate about knowledge-how is at least partly a metalinguistic negotiation. In closing, I suggest a way to revise the philosophical concept of knowledge how