A Zoomable Mapping of a Musical Parameter Space Using Hilbert Curves

The final publication is available at Computer Music Journal via http://dx.doi.org/10.1162/COMJ_a_0025

A Tonnetz Model for pentachords

This article deals with the construction of surfaces that are suitable for representing pentachords or 5-pitch segments that are in the same $T/I$ class. It is a generalization of the well known \"Ottingen-Riemann torus for triads of neo-Riemannian theories. Two pentachords are near if they differ by a particular set of contextual inversions and the whole contextual group of inversions produces a Tiling (Tessellation) by pentagons on the surfaces. A description of the surfaces as coverings of a particular Tiling is given in the twelve-tone enharmonic scale case.Comment: 27 pages, 12 figure

Screening of post-mortem tissue donors for Coxiella burnetii infection after large outbreaks of Q fever in The Netherlands

BACKGROUND: After the largest outbreaks of Q fever ever recorded in history occurred in the Netherlands, concern arose that Coxiella may be transmitted via donated tissues of latent or chronically infected donors. The Dutch Health Council recently advised to screen tissue donors, donating high risk tissues, for Coxiella infection. METHODS: After validation of an enzyme immunoassay (EIA) test for IgG antibodies against phase 2 of C. burnetii for use on post-mortem samples, serum samples of 1033 consecutive Dutch post-mortem tissue donors were tested for IgG antibodies against phase 2 of C. burnetii. Confirmation of reactive results was done by immunofluorescence assay (IFA). All available tissues (corneas, heart valves, skin and bone marrow) from donors with IgG reactivity were tested for presence of Coxiella DNA by PCR. Risk factors for IgG reactivity were investigated. RESULTS: After validation of the tests for use on post-mortem samples, 50/1033 donors (4.8%) screened positive for phase 2 anti-Coxiella IgG by EIA, and 31 were confirmed by IFA (3.0%). One donor showed a serological profile compatible with chronic infection. All tested tissues (25 corneas, 6 heart valves, 4 skin and 3 bone marrow) from donors with IgG reactivity tested negative for the presence of Coxiella DNA. Except for living in a postal code area with a high number of Q fever notifications, no risk factors for IgG reactivity were found. CONCLUSIONS: The strong correlation between notifications and seroprevalence confirms that the used assays are sufficiently specific for use on post-mortem samples, although one has to be aware of differences between batches. Thus, this study provides a validated method for screening tissue donors for infection with Coxiella burnetii that can be used in future outbreaks

Steering in computational science: mesoscale modelling and simulation

This paper outlines the benefits of computational steering for high performance computing applications. Lattice-Boltzmann mesoscale fluid simulations of binary and ternary amphiphilic fluids in two and three dimensions are used to illustrate the substantial improvements which computational steering offers in terms of resource efficiency and time to discover new physics. We discuss details of our current steering implementations and describe their future outlook with the advent of computational grids.Comment: 40 pages, 11 figures. Accepted for publication in Contemporary Physic

Bestrijding Black Mold in geoculeerde rozenteelt 2008-2009

Black Mold (Chalaropsis thielavioides) is een schimmel die in 2007 veel schade heeft veroorzaakt in de struikrozen. De schimmel infecteert de oculatiewond met als gevolg dat het oculatieoog niet aanslaat. Op sommige percelen ging tot wel 70% van de enten verloren. In een tweejarig PT project is onderzocht wateen goede beheersingsstrategie voor Black Mold is. Er is gekeken naar de volgende punten: Bestrijding van Black Mold met chemische middelen. In het kader van het ontwikkelen van een bestrijdingsstrategie van Black Mold zijn verschillende middelen getest. Het druppelen van middel T in de T-snede bleek goed te werken tegen Black Mold. Het was echter niet mogelijk Black Mold te bestrijden via de traditionele manier zoals het bespuiten van de stam of de plant in zijn geheel. Ook het bespuiten van de T-snede werkte niet. Het bleek dat Black Mold alleen bestreden kon worden wanneer het bestrijdingsmiddel in de T-snede werd gedruppeld. Resistente onderstammen. In de literatuur waren aanwijzingen gevonden dat er rozenonderstam varianten zouden bestaan die resistent zijn tegen Black Mold. Smid’s Ideal en Multiflora zijn beide in een kas- en veldproef getest en bleken vatbaar voor Black Mold te zijn. Epidemiologie van Black Mold. Verschillende facetten van de epidemiologie van Black Mold zijn onderzocht. het was niet mogelijk een relatie tussen de weersomstandigheden in 2007 en de grootschalige uitbraak van Black Mold vast te stellen. Onder laboratorium condities is uitgezocht dat Black Mold verschillende optimum temperaturen heeft. Zo is de optimum temperatuur voor myceliumgroei 24°C, voor kieming 15°C en voor sporulatie 30°C. Het is echter nog niet duidelijk wat de optimale infectie temperatuur van Black Mold is. Verder is er gekeken of Black Mold in de grond een infectiebron kan zijn. Stukjes peen zijn gebruikt in een lokaastoets omdat Black Mold ook peen infecteert. Met behulp van deze toets kon echter niet worden vastgesteld dat percelen met grootschalige Black Mold uitbraken ook meer stukjes peen aantastten. . Klaarblijkelijk is de hoeveelheid van Black Mold in de grond niet van belang. Verder is gekeken of besmette grond Black Mold infecties kon veroorzaken door de grond op te laten spatten of aan te aarden. Dit bleek niet het geval. Plant materiaal en het oculatiemes zijn waarschijnlijk geen grote infectiebronnen van Black Mold. Het is echter wel gebleken dat Black Mold via het mes verspreid kan worden. Daarom is het effect van mesontsmetting ook onderzocht. Het is aan te raden het mes regelmatig te ontsmetten met spiritus of alcohol

Лексична лакуна як об'єкт лінгвістичних досліджень

В статье осуществлен теоретический обзор проблемы лакунарности, как одного из основных вопросов при реконструкции языковой картины мира. Представлена классификация лексических лакун на материале сопоставления украинского, русского и английского языка.В статті зроблено теоретичний огляд проблеми лакунарності як одного з основних питань при реконструкції мовної картини світу. Представлена класифікація лексичних лакун на матеріалі зіставлення української, російської та англійської мови.This paper is a theoretical review on lacunarity as one of the main problems in reconstruction of the linguistic picture of the world. A classification of lexical lacunae has been suggested using the material of comparison of the Ukrainian, Russian and English languages

Thermostable phycocyanin from the red microalga Cyanidioschyzon merolae, a new natural blue food colorant

The demand for natural food colorants is growing as consumers question the use of artificial colorants more and more. The phycobiliprotein C-phycocyanin of Arthospira platensis is used as a natural blue colorant in certain food products. The thermoacidophilic red microalga Cyanidioschyzon merolae might provide an alternative source of phycocyanin. Cyanidioschyzon merolae belongs to the order Cyanidiophyceae of the phylum Rhodophyta. Its natural habitat are sulfuric hot springs and geysers found near volcanic areas in, e.g., Yellowstone National Park in the USA and in Java, Indonesia. It grows optimally at a pH between 0.5 and 3.0 and at temperatures up to 56 A degrees C. The low pH at which C. merolae grows minimizes the risk of microbial contamination and could limit production loss. As C. merolae lacks a cell wall, phycocyanin with a high purity number of 9.9 could be extracted by an osmotic shock using a simple ultrapure water extraction followed by centrifugation. The denaturation midpoint at pH 5 was 83 A degrees C, being considerably higher than the A. platensis phycocyanin (65 A degrees C). The C. merolae phycocyanin was relatively stable at pH 4 and 5 up to 80 A degrees C. The high thermostability at slightly acidic pH makes the C. merolae phycocyanin an interesting alternative to A. platensis phycocyanin as a natural blue food colorant

A comprehensive framework of E2–RING E3 interactions of the human ubiquitin–proteasome system

Covalent attachment of ubiquitin to substrates is crucial to protein degradation, transcription regulation and cell signalling. Highly specific interactions between ubiquitin-conjugating enzymes (E2) and ubiquitin protein E3 ligases fulfil essential roles in this process. We performed a global yeast-two hybrid screen to study the specificity of interactions between catalytic domains of the 35 human E2s with 250 RING-type E3s. Our analysis showed over 300 high-quality interactions, uncovering a large fraction of new E2–E3 pairs. Both within the E2 and the E3 cohorts, several members were identified that are more versatile in their interaction behaviour than others. We also found that the physical interactions of our screen compare well with reported functional E2–E3 pairs in in vitro ubiquitination experiments. For validation we confirmed the interaction of several versatile E2s with E3s in in vitro protein interaction assays and we used mutagenesis to alter the E3 interactions of the E2 specific for K63 linkages, UBE2N(Ubc13), towards the K48-specific UBE2D2(UbcH5B). Our data provide a detailed, genome-wide overview of binary E2–E3 interactions of the human ubiquitination system