Image transfer through a chaotic channel by intensity correlations

The three-wave mixing processes in a second-order nonlinear medium can be used for imaging protocols, in which an object field is injected into the nonlinear medium together with a reference field and an image field is generated. When the reference field is chaotic, the image field is also chaotic and does not carry any information about the object. We show that a clear image of the object be extracted from the chaotic image field by measuring the spatial intensity correlations between this field and one Fourier component of the reference. We experimentally verify this imaging protocol in the case of frequency downconversion.Comment: 17 pages, 7 figure

Urban heritage endangerment at the interface of future cities and past heritage: A spatial vulnerability assessment

Uncontrolled urban growth has been an increasing concern in many regions throughout the world. Generated by a natural tendency of population growth in relation to unsustainable land use, city sprawl has led to complex spatial developments that are creating both benefits to, and challenges for decision makers. A major problem inherent in the uncontrolled growth of cities is the threat to the fragile cultural and ecological heritage, which may escalate to permanent and irreversible damage as a result of factors such as environmental depletion and landscape decay. Using modern geosciences and spatial information technologies as predictive tools to analyse and forecast urban growth, a regional spatial decision system may be useful in order to provide seemly and timely information on the risk of overburdening the carrying capacity regarding the historico-cultural heritage at local and regional levels.The present paper develops a predictive toolkit for urban heritage in relation to urban cultural endangerment. This common problem is shared through many regions of the world and is increasingly jeopardizing fragile archaeological landscape due to urban pressure. In this sense, and to forecast an example of this common pressure, the Algarve is exemplified as a laboratory for testing this novel methodology, relying on a combined analysis of urban growth potential and threats to the abundant presence of archaeological heritage in the area. Our appro ach supports the paradigm of city growth in the context of a common agenda emerging from the Valetta Treaty, in which preserving the archaeological heritage is recognized as a key element for sustainable development. The study provides novel empirical results from the above mentioned modelling approach, with important lessons for the developing world. This paper proposes as such, an integrative spatial analysis methodology on the issue of historico-cultural endangerment, which is a new approach to comparative spatial analysis for decision making on urban heritage endangerment at the regional scale. Later, the discussion extends to a more conceptual level of urban planning by considering the questions: Is urban sprawl influencing the way we perceive cities? If so, are there positive advantages in the paradigm of urban growth and urban sprawl which might help us to protect past heritage while ensuring sustainable and modern cities? © 2011 Elsevier Ltd

Chemical signaling in the gastrointestinal tract

Chemical signaling via the production of small molecules such as hormones has been studied in detail in higher organisms. These molecules have important functions in maintaining physiological homeostasis as well as allowing organisms to respond to external insults. Virtually every living cell produces hormone-like diffusible small molecules that can be used to convey messages to neighboring cells—a vital step in adaptation, development, and survival within populations. Although most of our knowledge on cellular chemical communication comes from studies of multicellular eukaryotes, it is now understood that bacteria can also communicate using sophisticated signaling systems, in a way analogous to those used by higher organisms. Many of these microbes live in close association with higher eukaryotes, in mutualistic or commensal relationships. We suggest that there may be a wealth of unidentified bioactive small molecules in the human body, originating from both microbial and human cells and that have important biological functions. Because chemical signaling has important roles for the biology of both microbes and humans, detecting, identifying, and studying these chemical signals can further our understanding of the chemical interplay between microbiota and their hosts and provide us with an unexplored source of molecules that could be used for human benefit

ANÁLISE DO GERENCIAMENTO DE RESÍDUOS SÓLIDOS EM MICRO E PEQUENAS EMPRESAS DO SETOR DE MÓVEIS DE MADEIRA DA GRANDE VITÓRIA - ES

Este trabalho objetivou investigar o gerenciamento de resíduos sólidos em quatro empresas fabricantes de móveis de madeira da região da Grande Vitória ES, sendo duas microempresas e duas empresas de pequeno porte, e propor ações com base nos conceitos e estratégias da Produção mais Limpa e nas diretrizes da Política Nacional de Resíduos Sólidos. Primeiro, selecionaram-se quatro empresas do setor de móveis para realização de visitas in loco, com aplicação de questionário semiaberto e entrevistas semi-estruturadas, a fim de se levantar o quantitativo das matérias-primas e insumos utilizados e dos resíduos gerados no processo de produção de móveis de cada empresa, os procedimentos adotados no gerenciamento de resíduos sólidos, os aspectos ambientais, sociais e econômicos relacionados à geração de resíduos em cada empresa. As empresas foram comparadas com relação a essas variáveis e identificou-se a mais eficiente na conversão de suas matérias-primas em produtos acabados e a com o melhor gerenciamento de resíduos sólidos. Em seguida, propuseram-se soluções sustentáveis para a não geração, redução, reutilização, reciclagem, tratamento e destinação final adequada dos resíduos gerados. Verificou-se que mais de 280 toneladas de resíduos sólidos foram geradas pelas quatro empresas no ano de 2014, sendo a maior parte (mais de 90%) formada por restos de madeira (cavacos e maravalhas) e serragem/pó. A empresa que apresentou melhor gerenciamento de resíduos sólidos foi a Empresa 3 e a Empresa 2 apresentou a melhor eficiência no processo produtivo, ambas empresas de pequeno porte, o que endossa estudos de diversos autores sobre o grau de adoção de práticas ambientais proativas estar relacionado ao tamanho da empresa - quanto maior a organização, mais propensa ela é a adotar tais práticas

Equine protease inhibitor system as a marker for the diagnosis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

Polymorphism in programming languages enables code reuse. Here, we show that polymorphism has broad applicability far beyond computations for technical computing: parallelism in distributed computing, presentation of visualizations of runtime data flow, and proofs for formal verification of correctness. The ability to reuse a single codebase for all these purposes provides new ways to understand and verify parallel programs.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figures. Proceedings of HPTCDL, the 1st Workshop on High Performance Technical Computing in Dynamic Languages, November 17, 2014, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. Supporting Information available at http://jiahao.github.io/parallel-prefi