On the volumes and affine types of trades

A $[t]$-trade is a pair $T=(T_+, T_-)$ of disjoint collections of subsets (blocks) of a $v$-set $V$ such that for every $0\le i\le t$, any $i$-subset of $V$ is included in the same number of blocks of $T_+$ and of $T_-$. It follows that $|T_+| = |T_-|$ and this common value is called the volume of $T$. If we restrict all the blocks to have the same size, we obtain the classical $t$-trades as a special case of $[t]$-trades. It is known that the minimum volume of a nonempty $[t]$-trade is $2^t$. Simple $[t]$-trades (i.e., those with no repeated blocks) correspond to a Boolean function of degree at most $v-t-1$. From the characterization of Kasami--Tokura of such functions with small number of ones, it is known that any simple $[t]$-trade of volume at most $2\cdot2^t$ belongs to one of two affine types, called Type\,(A) and Type\,(B) where Type\,(A) $[t]$-trades are known to exist. By considering the affine rank, we prove that $[t]$-trades of Type\,(B) do not exist. Further, we derive the spectrum of volumes of simple trades up to $2.5\cdot 2^t$, extending the known result for volumes less than $2\cdot 2^t$. We also give a characterization of "small" $[t]$-trades for $t=1,2$. Finally, an algorithm to produce $[t]$-trades for specified $t$, $v$ is given. The result of the implementation of the algorithm for $t\le4$, $v\le7$ is reported.Comment: 30 pages, final version, to appear in Electron. J. Combi

Effects of Daphnia magna and Artemia nauplii on growth performance in Persian sturgeon Acipenser persicus larvae

This study was carried out in a completely randomized design 3×3×4 factorial arrangement in three periods of rearing in spring 1997. Density of 300 larvae was assigned for each oval tank with 0.1m2 surface area, 30cm deep, a volume of 20lit and 0.25 lit/min of water flow per minute at Shahid Rajaie fish breeding and culture center in Sari, north of Iran. The fries were divided into three groups according to their feeding regimes and fed with each of Artemia or D. magna separately, and mixture of the two (50% Artemia+50% Daphnia) in ratioes of 80, 100 and 120% of their body weights in the first period and 30,50,70% of their body weights in the second and third period of rearing. Each period lasted 72 hours. The result indicated, significant differences (p<0.005) between food organisms, body weight gain and Food conservation Ratio (FCR) in the first and third period of rearing. The highest body weight gain was found in 120% food ratio in the first period. The best survival rate achieved with fries feeding at 70% body weight of Artemia nauplii and mixed food in the second period of rearing. The highest growth rate, survival rate and the best FCR obtained when Artemia fed as live food to fries. There were no significant differences between Artemia and mixed food in this study. It seems that mixed food (50% Artemia +50% Daphnia) given at 70% of larval body weight results in a better performance

VMEXT: A Visualization Tool for Mathematical Expression Trees

Mathematical expressions can be represented as a tree consisting of terminal symbols, such as identifiers or numbers (leaf nodes), and functions or operators (non-leaf nodes). Expression trees are an important mechanism for storing and processing mathematical expressions as well as the most frequently used visualization of the structure of mathematical expressions. Typically, researchers and practitioners manually visualize expression trees using general-purpose tools. This approach is laborious, redundant, and error-prone. Manual visualizations represent a user's notion of what the markup of an expression should be, but not necessarily what the actual markup is. This paper presents VMEXT - a free and open source tool to directly visualize expression trees from parallel MathML. VMEXT simultaneously visualizes the presentation elements and the semantic structure of mathematical expressions to enable users to quickly spot deficiencies in the Content MathML markup that does not affect the presentation of the expression. Identifying such discrepancies previously required reading the verbose and complex MathML markup. VMEXT also allows one to visualize similar and identical elements of two expressions. Visualizing expression similarity can support support developers in designing retrieval approaches and enable improved interaction concepts for users of mathematical information retrieval systems. We demonstrate VMEXT's visualizations in two web-based applications. The first application presents the visualizations alone. The second application shows a possible integration of the visualizations in systems for mathematical knowledge management and mathematical information retrieval. The application converts LaTeX input to parallel MathML, computes basic similarity measures for mathematical expressions, and visualizes the results using VMEXT.Comment: 15 pages, 4 figures, Intelligent Computer Mathematics - 10th International Conference CICM 2017, Edinburgh, UK, July 17-21, 2017, Proceeding

The independent effects of ferrous and phosphorus on growth and development of Tetraselmis suecica; an in vitro study

Five treatments including Conway medium, media containing 0.1, 0.17, 0.3 and 0.5 mg l-1 ferrous (Fe; in the first experiment), media with 1, 1.26, 1.59, 2 mg l-1 concentrations of phosphorous (P; in the second experiment) and a pure sample of Tetraselmis suecica were cultured under laboratory conditions. Growth rate of the algae was determined using the optical density method at 750 nm and number of algal cells was counted with a hemocytometer. The results of the first experiment showed that the amount of Fe for maximum growth of this species was 0.3 mg l-1, while Fe concentration in Conway medium was 0.27 mg l-1 (P>0.05). The results of second experiment showed that 1.59 mg l-1 P caused the maximum growth of algae which was not significantly different from that of the control medium (with 1.6 mg l-1; Conway; P>0.05).These results showed that due to the lack of significant differences in maximum growth of this alga recorded in 0.3 mg l-1 Fe and that recorded in 1.59 mg l-1 P in Conway medium, increase or decrease of these doses will have a significant negative effect on algal growth

Distribution, diversity and abundance of fish species in the Madarsoo River, Golestan National Park, Iran

To assess the effects of two flooding events occurred in the years 2001 and 2002, fish distribution, diversity and abundance in Madarsoo River of the Golestan National Park were studied and compared to that of the years before the events. A total of five fish species from four sites were collected. Assemblage of fish population showed changes in their overall relative abundance and distribution across sampling sites and times. We estimated the abundance of Capoeta capoeta gracilis at 2.331:2.6, Alburnoides bipunctatus at 0.17±0.15, Paracobitis malapterura at 0.0474±0.031 and Leuciscus cephalus at 0.005±0.01 fish per square meter of the stream. The abundance of Cc.gracilis showed significant increase while that of the A. bipunctatus did not undergo such significant change in comparison with the data from the years before flooding events (P<0.01). The Shannon diversity index was significantly different between sites and with the increase in the number of riffles and pools in the river, the index and population size of the fish species showed an upward trend. Three fish species Oncorhynchus mykiss, Neogobius melanostomus affinis and Neogobius fluviafilis which were abundant before the floods did not show up in the samples at all. Also, of the Barbus mursa, only one specimen was caught. Canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) results suggest that two species C. c. gracilis and P. malapterura are more resistant against changes in environmental conditions

Site selection for coldwater fish culture using GIS in Golestan province of Iran

In an attempt to provide a scientific basis and to discern data gaps for sustainable aquaculture expansion, we conducted a land evaluation and land use planning study to delineate areas suitable for coldwater fish culture complexes in the Golestan Province of Iran. The study was based on systematic land evaluation, a modified version of the McHarg cartographic method drawing upon ecological, social and economic factors. The minimum mapped area was 1.25t1.25Km and the Province was classified into suitable, medium, poor and unsuitable units. Elevation, slope, aspect, hydrography, temperature, evaporation, lithology, pedology, landuse, proximity to roads, protected areas and water resources were the factors included in the study. We successfully applied the method to the Province that resulted in distinguishing areas suitable for coldwater fish culture. Of the factors included in the study, proximity to roads was found to play important role in allocating an area to the activity. Also, slope, elevation, water temperature and evaporation were the other factors that helped in discerning the areas. We found that some parts of the province are amenable to the expansion of the aquaculture activities. Of the surface area of the Province, around 53 kilometers were found to be suitable for the culture. Also, 54 kilometers were moderately suitable and 68 kilometers were poorly suitable for the activity

Demonstration of Calreticulin Expression in Hamster Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma with the Use of Fluorescent Gold Quantum Dots

BACKGROUND: There is dire need for discovery of novel pancreatic cancer biomarkers and of agents with the potential for simultaneous diagnostic and therapeutic capacity. This study demonstrates calreticulin expression on hamster pancreatic adenocarcinoma via bio-conjugated gold quantum dots (AuQDs). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Hamster pancreatic adenocarcinoma cells were cultured, fixed and incubated with fluorescent AuQDs, bio-conjugated to anti-calreticulin antibodies. Anti-calreticulin and AuQDs were produced in-house. AuQDs were manufactured to emit in the near-infrared. Cells were further characterized under confocal fluorescence. RESULTS: AuQDs were confirmed to emit in the near-infrared. AuQD bio-conjugation to calreticulin was confirmed via dot-blotting. Upon laser excitation and post-incubation with bio-conjugated AuQDs, pancreatic cancer cell lines emitted fluorescence in near-infrared. CONCLUSION: Hamster pancreatic cancer cells express calreticulin, which may be labelled with AuQDs. This study demonstrates the application of nanoparticle-based theranostics in pancreatic cancer. Such biomarker-targeting nanosystems are anticipated to play a significant role in the management of pancreatic cancer

Salivary melatonin onset in youth at familial risk for bipolar disorder

Melatonin secretion and polysomnography (PSG) were compared among a group of healthy adolescents who were at high familial risk for bipolar disorder (HR) and a second group at low familial risk (LR). Adolescent participants (n = 12) were a mean age 14 ± 2.3 years and included 8 females and 4 males. Saliva samples were collected under standardized condition light (red light) and following a 200 lux light exposure over two consecutive nights in a sleep laboratory. Red Light Melatonin onset (RLMO) was defined as saliva melatonin level exceeding the mean of the first 3 readings plus 2 standard deviations. Polysomnography was also completed during each night. HR youth, relative to LR, experienced a significantly earlier melatonin onset following 200 lux light exposure. Polysomnography revealed that LR youth, relative to HR, spent significantly more time in combined stages 3 and 4 (deep sleep) following red light exposure. Additionally, regardless of the group status (HR or LR), there was no significant difference in Red Light Melatonin Onset recorded at home or in the laboratory, implying its feasibility and reliability

Generalized Massive Gravity and Galilean Conformal Algebra in two dimensions

Galilean conformal algebra (GCA) in two dimensions arises as contraction of two copies of the centrally extended Virasoro algebra ($t\rightarrow t, x\rightarrow\epsilon x$ with $\epsilon\rightarrow 0$). The central charges of GCA can be expressed in term of Virasoro central charges. For finite and non-zero GCA central charges, the Virasoro central charges must behave as asymmetric form $O(1)\pm O(\frac{1}{\epsilon})$. We propose that, the bulk description for 2d GCA with asymmetric central charges is given by general massive gravity (GMG) in three dimensions. It can be seen that, if the gravitational Chern-Simons coupling $\frac{1}{\mu}$ behaves as of order O($\frac{1}{\epsilon}$) or ($\mu\rightarrow\epsilon\mu$), the central charges of GMG have the above $\epsilon$ dependence. So, in non-relativistic scaling limit $\mu\rightarrow\epsilon\mu$, we calculated GCA parameters and finite entropy in term of gravity parameters mass and angular momentum of GMG.Comment: 9 page