An Innovative On-Board Processor for Lightsats

The Applied Physics Laboratory has developed a flightworthy custom microprocessor that increases capability and reduces development costs of lightsat science instruments. This device, which APL calls the FRISC (Forth Reduced Instruction Set Computer), directly executes the high level language called Forth, which is ideally suited to the multitasking control and data processing environment of a spaceborne instrument processor. The FRlSC (which is available commercially as the SC32) will be flown as the on-board processor in the Magnetic Field Experiment on the Swedish Space Corporations’ Freja satellite. APL has achieved a significant increase in on-board processing capability with no increase in cost when compared to the magnetometer instrument on Freja\u27s predecessor, the Viking satellite. These advantages are attributable to the high instruction execution rate, reduced software development effort, and shortened system integration time made possible by the nature of the microprocessor and the Forth language

Improving the assessment of gestational age in a Zimbabwean population

Objectives: To evaluate the performance and the utility of using birthweight‐adjusted scores of Dubowitz and Ballard methods of estimating gestational age in a Zimbabwean population. Method: The Dubowitz and the Ballard methods of estimating gestational age were administered to 364 African newborn infants with a known last menstrual period (LMP) at Harare Maternity Hospital. Results: Both methods were good predictors of gestational age useful in differentiating term from pre‐term infants. Our regression line was Y(LMP gestational age)=23.814+0.301*score for the Dubowitz and Y(LMP gestational age)=24.493+0.420*score for the Ballard method. Addition of birthweight to the regression models improved prediction of gestational age; Y(LMP gestational age)=23.512+0.219*score+0.0015*grams for Dubowitz and Y(LMP gestational age)=24.002+0.292*score+0.0016*grams for Ballard method. Conclusions: We recommend the use of our birthweight‐adjusted maturity scales; the Dubowitz for studies of prematurity, and the Ballard for routine clinical practice.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/135611/1/ijgo7.pd

Monte-Carlo Tree Reductions for Stochastic Games

Monte-Carlo Tree Search (MCTS) is a powerful paradigm for perfect information games. When considering stochastic games, the tree model that represents the game has to take chance and a huge branching factor into account. As effectiveness of MCTS may decrease in such a setting, tree reductions may be useful. Chance-nodes are a way to deal with random events. Move-groups are another way to deal efficiently with a large branching factor by regrouping nodes. Group- nodes are regrouping only reveal moves and enable a choice between reveal moves and classical moves. We present various policies to use such reductions for the stochastic game Chinese Dark Chess. Move-groups, chance-nodes and group-nodes are compared

Single nucleotides in the mtDNA sequence modify mitochondrial molecular function and are associated with sex-specific effects on fertility and aging

Mitochondria underpin energy conversion in eukaryotes. Their small genomes have been the subject of increasing attention, and there is evidence that mitochondrial genetic variation can affect evolutionary trajectories and shape the expression of life-history traits considered to be key human health indicators [1 and 2]. However, it is not understood how genetic variation across a diminutive genome, which in most species harbors only about a dozen protein-coding genes, can exert broad-scale effects on the organismal phenotype [2 and 3]. Such effects are particularly puzzling given that the mitochondrial genes involved are under strong evolutionary constraint and that mitochondrial gene expression is highly conserved across diverse taxa [4]. We used replicated genetic lines in the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, each characterized by a distinct and naturally occurring mitochondrial haplotype placed alongside an isogenic nuclear background. We demonstrate that sequence variation within the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) affects both the copy number of mitochondrial genomes and patterns of gene expression across key mitochondrial protein-coding genes. In several cases, haplotype-mediated patterns of gene expression were gene-specific, even for genes from within the same transcriptional units. This invokes post-transcriptional processing of RNA in the regulation of mitochondrial genetic effects on organismal phenotypes. Notably, the haplotype-mediated effects on gene expression could be traced backward to the level of individual nucleotides and forward to sex-specific effects on fertility and longevity. Our study thus elucidates how small-scale sequence changes in the mitochondrial genome can achieve broad-scale regulation of health-related phenotypes and even contribute to sex-related differences in longevity