Sirdavidia, an extroardinary new genus of Annonaceae from Gabon

A distinctive new monotypic genus from Gabon is described in the tropical plant family Annonaceae: Sirdavidia, in honor to Sir David Attenborough. Molecular phylogenetic analyses confirm that Sirdavidia, which is very distinct from a morphological standpoint, is not nested in any existing genus of Annonaceae and belongs to tribe Piptostigmateae (subfamily Malmeoideae), which now contains a total of six genera. The genus is characterized by long acuminate leaves, fully reflexed red petals, 16–19 bright yellow, loosely arranged stamens forming a cone, and a single carpel topped by a conspicuous stigma. With just three known collections, a preliminary IUCN conservation status assessment is provided as “endangered” as well as a distribution map. The discovery of Sirdavidia is remarkable at several levels. First, it was collected near the road in one of the botanically best-known regions of Gabon: Monts de Cristal National Park. Second, its sister group is the genus Mwasumbia, also monotypic, endemic to a small area in a forest in Tanzania, some 3000 km away. Finally, the floral morphology is highly suggestive of a buzz pollination syndrome. If confirmed, this would be the first documentation of such a pollination syndrome in Magnoliidae and early-diverging angiosperms in general

Efficient Emptiness Check for Timed B\"uchi Automata (Extended version)

The B\"uchi non-emptiness problem for timed automata refers to deciding if a given automaton has an infinite non-Zeno run satisfying the B\"uchi accepting condition. The standard solution to this problem involves adding an auxiliary clock to take care of the non-Zenoness. In this paper, it is shown that this simple transformation may sometimes result in an exponential blowup. A construction avoiding this blowup is proposed. It is also shown that in many cases, non-Zenoness can be ascertained without extra construction. An on-the-fly algorithm for the non-emptiness problem, using non-Zenoness construction only when required, is proposed. Experiments carried out with a prototype implementation of the algorithm are reported.Comment: Published in the Special Issue on Computer Aided Verification - CAV 2010; Formal Methods in System Design, 201

Congenital azygos pseudocontinuity with right lower intercostal vein

We report the case of a neonate born at 384/7 weeks of gestation with median birth weight and size and in the 75th percentile for head circumference. Routine pregnancy follow up allowed the antenatal discovery of azygos continuation with absence of the inferior vena cava

Classification d'expressions vocales passives versus actives

Six expressions sont généralement considérées pour caractériser les états émotifs humains : Sourire, Surprise, Colère, Tristesse, dégoût et Neutre. Différentes mesures peuvent être extraites à partir du signal de parole pour caractériser ces expressions, à savoir la fréquence fondamentale, l'énergie, le SPI (rapport des énergies des HF et des BF dans le signal) et le débit de parole. Une classification automatique des cinq expressions basées sur ces caractéristiques présente des conflits entre la Colère, la Surprise et le Sourire d'une part et le Neutre et la Tristesse d'autre part. Ce conflit entre classes d'expressions est également retrouvé chez le classifieur humain. Nous proposons donc de définir deux classes d'expressions: Active regroupant le Sourire, la Surprise et la Colère et Passive regroupant le Neutre et la Tristesse. Une telle classification est également plus réaliste et plus appropriée pour l'intégration d'information de parole dans un système de classification multimodale combinant la parole et la vidéo, ce qui est à long terme le but de notre travail. Dans ce papier, différentes méthodes de classification sont testées: un classifieur Bayésien, une Analyse Discriminante Linéaire (ADL), le classifieur au K plus proches vosins(KNN) et un classifieur à Machine à Vecteur de Support (SVM) avec une fonction de base gaussienne. Pour les deux classes considérées, les meilleurs taux de classification sont obtenus avec le classificateur SVM avec un taux de reconnaissance de 89.74% pour l'état Actif et de 86.54 % pour l'état Passif

Cloning and Expression of Major Surface Antigen 1 Gene of Toxoplasma gondii RH Strain Using the Expression Vector pVAX1 in Chinese Hamster Ovary Cells

Background: Toxoplasmosis is an opportunistic protozoan infection with a high prevalence in a broad range of hosts infecting up to onethird of the world human population. Toxoplasmosis leads to serious medical problems in immunocompromised individuals and fetuses and also induces abortion and mortality in domestic animals. Therefore, there is a huge demand for the development of an effective vaccine. Surface Antigen 1 (SAG1) is one of the important immunodominant surface antigens of Toxoplasma gondii, which interacts with host cells and primarily involved in adhesion, invasion and stimulation of host immune response. Surface antigen 1 is considered as the leading candidate for development of an effective vaccine against toxoplasmosis. Objectives: The purpose of this study was to clone the major surface antigen1 gene (SAG1) from the genotype 1 of T. gondii, RH strain into the eukaryotic expression vector pVAX1 in order to use for a DNA vaccine. Materials and Methods: Genomic DNA was extracted from tachyzoite of the parasite using the QIAamp DNA mini kit. After designing the specific primers, SAG1 gene was amplified by Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR). The purified PCR products were then cloned into a pPrime plasmid vector. The aforementioned product was subcloned into the pVAX1 eukaryotic expression vector. The recombinant pVAX1-SAG1 was then transfected into Chinese Hamster Ovary (CHO) cells and expression of SAG1 antigen was evaluated using Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR), Immunofluorescence Assay (IFA) and Western Blotting (WB). Results: The cloning and subcloning products (pPrime-SAG1 and pVAX1-SAG1 plasmid vectors) of SAG1 gene were verified and confirmed by enzyme digestion and sequencing. A 30 kDa recombinant protein was expressed in CHO cells as shown by IFA and WB methods. Conclusions: The pVAX1 expression vector and CHO cells are a suitable system for high-level recombinant protein production for SAG1 gene from T. gondii parasites and are promising approaches for antigen preparation in vaccine development

Chain transfer to solvent in the radical polymerization of structurally diverse acrylamide monomers using straight-chain and branched alcohols as solvents

Chain transfer to solvent in conventional radical polymerizations of N-tert-butylacrylamide (TBAM) and N-(2-morpholin-4-ylethyl) acrylamide (MEA) in a range of alcohol solvents is investigated. Mayo analysis of polymerization of TBAM in linear alcohols (C-3-C-9) resulted in an approximately linear increase in chain transfer to solvent constant (C-tr,(S)) with the number of methylene (CH2) units in the solvent. The branched alcohol 3-methyl-3-pentanol gave the smallest C-tr,C-S (using Mayo analysis), and thus allowed attainment of higher molecular weights (MWs) in the nitroxide-mediated polymerizations (NMP) of TBAM. Overall, the data show that MEA is more prone to chain transfer to solvent than TBAM (higher C-tr,C-S), and further analysis of the conventional radical polymerization of MEA in 3-methyl-3-pentanol indicate chain transfer to monomer may also be occurring. The first controlled/ living polymerizations of MEA are detailed with chain transfer having a greater impact on maximum achievable MWs in NMP in comparison to TBAM

Squalenyl Hydrogen Sulfate Nanoparticles for Simultaneous Delivery of Tobramycin and an Alkylquinolone Quorum Sensing Inhibitor Enable the Eradication of P. aeruginosa Biofilm Infections

Elimination of pulmonary Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PA) infections is challenging to accomplish with antibiotic therapies, mainly due to resistance mechanisms. Quorum sensing inhibitors (QSIs) interfering with biofilm formation can thus complement antibiotics. For simultaneous and improved delivery of both active agents to the infection sites, self-assembling nanoparticles of a newly synthesized squalenyl hydrogen sulfate (SqNPs) were prepared. These nanocarriers allowed for remarkably high loading capacities of hydrophilic antibiotic tobramycin (Tob) and a novel lipophilic QSI at 30 % and circa 10 %, respectively. The drug-loaded SqNPs showed improved biofilm penetration and enhanced efficacy in relevant biological barriers (mucin/human tracheal mucus, biofilm), leading to complete eradication of PA biofilms at circa 16-fold lower Tob concentration than Tob alone. This study offers a viable therapy optimization and invigorates the research and development of QSIs for clinical use

Is there a best Büchi automaton for explicit model checking?

LTL to Büchi automata (BA) translators are traditionally optimized to produce automata with a small number of states or a small number of non-deterministic states. In this paper, we search for properties of Büchi automata that really influence the performance of explicit model checkers. We do that by manual analysis of several automata and by experiments with common LTL-to-BA translators and realistic verification tasks. As a result of these experiences, we gain a better insight into the characteristics of automata that work well with Spin.Překladače LTL na Büchiho automaty jsou obvykle optimalizovány tak, aby produkovaly automaty s co nejmenším počtem stavů, či s co nejmenším počtem nedeterministických stavů. V této publikaci hledáme vlastnosti Büchiho automatů, které skutečně ovlivňují výkon nástrojů pro explicitní metodu ověřování modelu (model checking). A to pomocí manuální analýzy několika automatů a experimenty s běžnými překladače LTL na automaty a realistickými verifikačními úlohami. Výsledkem těchto experimentů je lepší porozumění charakteristik automatů, které jsou dobré pro model checker Spin