Recent Progress in Shearlet Theory: Systematic Construction of Shearlet Dilation Groups, Characterization of Wavefront Sets, and New Embeddings

The class of generalized shearlet dilation groups has recently been developed to allow the unified treatment of various shearlet groups and associated shearlet transforms that had previously been studied on a case-by-case basis. We consider several aspects of these groups: First, their systematic construction from associative algebras, secondly, their suitability for the characterization of wavefront sets, and finally, the question of constructing embeddings into the symplectic group in a way that intertwines the quasi-regular representation with the metaplectic one. For all questions, it is possible to treat the full class of generalized shearlet groups in a comprehensive and unified way, thus generalizing known results to an infinity of new cases. Our presentation emphasizes the interplay between the algebraic structure underlying the construction of the shearlet dilation groups, the geometric properties of the dual action, and the analytic properties of the associated shearlet transforms.Comment: 28 page

06391 Abstracts Collection -- Algorithms and Complexity for Continuous Problems

From 24.09.06 to 29.09.06, the Dagstuhl Seminar 06391 ``Algorithms and Complexity for Continuous Problems\u27\u27 was held in the International Conference and Research Center (IBFI), Schloss Dagstuhl. During the seminar, participants presented their current research, and ongoing work and open problems were discussed. Abstracts of the presentations given during the seminar are put together in this paper. The first section describes the seminar topics and goals in general. Links to extended abstracts or full papers are provided, if available

The effect of interferon beta-1b treatment on MRI measures of cerebral atrophy in secondary progressive multiple sclerosis.

The recently completed European trial of interferon beta-1b (IFN beta -1b) in patients with secondary progressive multiple sclerosis (SP multiple sclerosis) has given an opportunity to assess the impact of treatment on cerebral atrophy using serial MRI. Unenhanced T-1-weighted brain imaging was acquired in a subgroup of 95 patients from five of the European centres; imaging was performed at 6-month intervals from month 0 to month 36. A blinded observer measured cerebral volume on four contiguous 5 mm cerebral hemisphere slices at each time point, using an algorithm with a high level of reproducibility and automation. There was a significant and progressive reduction in cerebral volume in both placebo and treated groups, with a mean reduction of 3.9 and 2.9%, respectively, by month 36 (P = 0.34 between groups). Exploratory subgroup analyses indicated that patients without gadolinium (Gd) enhancement at the baseline had a greater reduction of cerebral volume in the placebo group (mean reduction at month 36: placebo 5.1%, IFN beta -1b 1.8%, P < 0.05) whereas those with Gd-enhancing lesions showed a trend to greater reduction of cerebral volume if the patient was on IFN<beta>-1b (placebo 2.6%, IFN beta -1b, 3.7%; P > 0.05). These results are consistent with ongoing tissue loss in both arms of this study of secondary progressive multiple sclerosis. This finding is concordant with previous observations that disease progression, although delayed, is not halted by IFN beta. The different pattern seen in patients with and without baseline gadolinium enhancement suggests that part of the cerebral volume reduction observed in IFN beta -treated patients may be due to the anti-inflammatory/antioedematous effect of the drug. Longer periods of observation and larger groups of patients may be needed to detect the effects of treatment on cerebral atrophy in this population of patients with advanced disease

Evaluation of pelleting diets to broilers

The processing of diets means change the structure of an ingredient in natural state to achieve the maximum potential nutrition, to improve the performance of animals. The more processing plants used in animal feed are the expansion, extrusion, and mainly the pelleting. The process of pellet is an agglomeration of particles ground of an ingredient or a mixture of ingredients, through mechanical processes in combination with humidity, pressure and heat, occurring any changes in the structure of food. Among the key processes operated by industry, the pelleting is the most used. Literature reviews shows, the main benefits of pelleting are to improve the digestibility of nutrients, increasing the feed intake, decreasing the use energy of maintenance, reduce the waste of feed for poultry and reduce contamination by microorganisms in the diet. The disadvantages are involved mainly with the high cost of equipments, increase use of electrical energy, carcasses more fat and increase mortality. However, a badly pelleting or badly managed by the factory as far as poultry houses, can cause to damage to the increase in the concentration of disaggregate particles (fines). When there is a concentration of fines high, the benefits of pelleting are equalized with relation the mashed diets, making the process of pelleting infeasible.  Processar um alimento significa alterar a estrutura dos ingredientes em seu estado natural para alcançar o seu máximo potencial nutricional, objetivando melhorar o desempenho dos animais. Os processamentos mais utilizados nas fábricas de rações são a expansão, a extrusão, e principalmente a peletização. O processo de peletização consiste em uma aglomeração de partículas moídas de um ingrediente ou de uma mistura de ingredientes, por meio de processos mecânicos em combinação com umidade, pressão e calor, fazendo com que ocorram mudanças na estrutura dos alimentos. Na literatura, as principais vantagens da peletização são de melhorar a digestibilidade de nutrientes, aumentar o consumo de ração, reduzir o gasto de energia de mantença, diminuir o desperdício da ração pelas aves e reduzir a contaminação por microorganismos na ração. As desvantagens estariam envolvidas principalmente com o alto custo dos equipamentos, maior gasto de energia elétrica, carcaças com maior teor de gordura e maior taxa de mortalidade. Porém, uma ração mal peletizada ou mal manejada da indústria até o aviário, pode acarretar em prejuízos devido ao aumento da concentração de partículas desagregadas (finos). Quando existe uma concentração de finos elevada, os benefícios da peletização são igualados em relação às dietas fareladas, tornando o processo de peletização inviável.

Rapid response to pandemic threats: immunogenic epitope detection of pandemic pathogens for diagnostics and vaccine development using peptide microarrays

Emergence and re-emergence of pathogens bearing the risk of becoming a pandemic threat are on the rise. Increased travel and trade, growing population density, changes in urbanization, and climate have a critical impact on infectious disease spread. Currently, the world is confronted with the emergence of a novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-$_{2}$, responsible for yet more than 800 000 deaths globally. Outbreaks caused by viruses, such as SARS-CoV-$_{2}$, HIV, Ebola, influenza, and Zika, have increased over the past decade, underlining the need for a rapid development of diagnostics and vaccines. Hence, the rational identification of biomarkers for diagnostic measures on the one hand, and antigenic targets for vaccine development on the other, are of utmost importance. Peptide microarrays can display large numbers of putative target proteins translated into overlapping linear (and cyclic) peptides for a multiplexed, high-throughput antibody analysis. This enabled for example the identification of discriminant/diagnostic epitopes in Zika or influenza and mapping epitope evolution in natural infections versus vaccinations. In this review, we highlight synthesis platforms that facilitate fast and flexible generation of high-density peptide microarrays. We further outline the multifaceted applications of these peptide array platforms for the development of serological tests and vaccines to quickly encounter pandemic threats

Dose-dependent T-cell Dynamics and Cytokine Cascade Following rVSV-ZEBOV Immunization.

BACKGROUND: The recent West African Ebola epidemic led to accelerated efforts to test Ebola vaccine candidates. As part of the World Health Organisation-led VSV Ebola Consortium (VEBCON), we performed a phase I clinical trial investigating rVSV-ZEBOV (a recombinant vesicular stomatitis virus-vectored Ebola vaccine), which has recently demonstrated protection from Ebola virus disease (EVD) in phase III clinical trials and is currently in advanced stages of licensing. So far, correlates of immune protection are incompletely understood and the role of cell-mediated immune responses has not been comprehensively investigated to date. METHODS: We recruited 30 healthy subjects aged 18-55 into an open-label, dose-escalation phase I trial testing three doses of rVSV-ZEBOV (3×105 plaque-forming units (PFU), 3×106 PFU, 2×107 PFU) (ClinicalTrials.gov; NCT02283099). Main study objectives were safety and immunogenicity, while exploratory objectives included lymphocyte dynamics, cell-mediated immunity and cytokine networks, which were assessed using flow cytometry, ELISpot and LUMINEX assay. FINDINGS: Immunization with rVSV-ZEBOV was well tolerated without serious vaccine-related adverse events. Ebola virus-specific neutralizing antibodies were induced in nearly all individuals. Additionally, vaccinees, particularly within the highest dose cohort, generated Ebola glycoprotein (GP)-specific T cells and initiated a cascade of signaling molecules following stimulation of peripheral blood mononuclear cells with Ebola GP peptides. INTERPRETATION: In addition to a benign safety and robust humoral immunogenicity profile, subjects immunized with 2×107 PFU elicited higher cellular immune responses and stronger interlocked cytokine networks compared to lower dose groups. To our knowledge these data represent the first detailed cell-mediated immuneprofile of a clinical trial testing rVSV-ZEBOV, which is of particular interest in light of its potential upcoming licensure as the first Ebola vaccine. VEBCON trial Hamburg, Germany (NCT02283099)