DFAs and PFAs with Long Shortest Synchronizing Word Length

It was conjectured by \v{C}ern\'y in 1964, that a synchronizing DFA on $n$ states always has a shortest synchronizing word of length at most $(n-1)^2$, and he gave a sequence of DFAs for which this bound is reached. Until now a full analysis of all DFAs reaching this bound was only given for $n \leq 4$, and with bounds on the number of symbols for $n \leq 10$. Here we give the full analysis for $n \leq 6$, without bounds on the number of symbols. For PFAs the bound is much higher. For $n \leq 6$ we do a similar analysis as for DFAs and find the maximal shortest synchronizing word lengths, exceeding $(n-1)^2$ for $n =4,5,6$. For arbitrary n we give a construction of a PFA on three symbols with exponential shortest synchronizing word length, giving significantly better bounds than earlier exponential constructions. We give a transformation of this PFA to a PFA on two symbols keeping exponential shortest synchronizing word length, yielding a better bound than applying a similar known transformation.Comment: 16 pages, 2 figures source code adde

The role of the 3 generations of antihistamines in treating allergies

Department of Pharmacology and Clinical Pharmacology, State University of Medicine and Pharmacy “Nicolae Testemitanu”, Chisinau, Republic of MoldovaIntroduction: Recent statistical data show a constantly increasing incidence of allergic disorders emphasizing the role of the development of new anti-allergic medication in the treatment of different allergies. HI-antihistamines (H1A) represent the class of anti-allergies most used by physicians in handling the immediate-type of hypersensitivity reactions. Currently, there are 3 generations of HI-antihistamines, classified according to their selectivity and sedative properties. Purpose and Objectives: The study was designed to find the prevalence of HI-antihistamines among other administered anti-allergic drugs and to determine the particularities of their use. Materials and Methods: We collected data from 53 medical records inscribed in the department of Allergology from Republican Clinical Hospital of Republic of Moldova, in November - December, 2013.There were patients diagnosed with various immediate-type allergic reactions, such as : Quincke’s edema, allergic dermatitis, acute and chronic urticaria, drug allergy and Stevens-Johnson syndrome. The information about the antihistamine drugs prescribed, length and route of administration in stationary versus further ambulatory periods was analyzed. Results: We found that 28 patients out of 53 (52,83%) were prescribed antihistamines stationary and 20 out of 53(37,73%) - ambulatory. The drugs used stationary were: chloropyramine and promethazine - both first (classical) generation HI A, administered in all patients(100%), intravenous, for an average of 7-8 days. The drugs used ambulatory were as following : clemastine (first generation HI A) - in 1 patient (1,88 %), intravenous for 5 days; bilastine (second generation HI A) - in 8 patients (15,1 %), orally for 1 month; levocetirizine and desloratadine (third generation HI A) - in 11 patients (20,75 %), orally for 1-2 months. Conclusion: The role of classical HI-antihistamines in clinical practice remains still high. Second and third generations of HI A are more preferred in further ambulatory anti-allergic treatment, partly due to the absence of the sedative effect of the classical HI A, important for people who need increased attention in practicing their professions, and partly due to their prolonged time of action

Spatiotemporal analysis of deforestation patterns and drivers reveals emergent threats to tropical forest landscapes

As deforestation breaches into new tropical frontiers, proactive conservation strategies require a trifecta of information on where deforestation is accelerating (emergent), how drivers of deforestation vary spatiotemporally, and where to focus limited conservation resources in protecting the most integral yet threatened forested landscapes. Here we introduce Emergent Threat Analysis, a process integrating Emerging Hot Spot Analysis of deforestation, visual classification of deforestation outcomes over time, and spatial quantification of contemporary forest condition. We applied Emergent Threat Analysis to tropical Southeast Asia, a global epicentre of biodiversity threatened by deforestation. We found that emergent hot spots (EHS)-a subset of hot spots characterized by strong, recent, and clustered patterns of deforestation-accounted for 26.1% of total forest loss from 1992 to 2018, with deforestation within EHS proceeding at 2.5 times the regional rate of gross loss. Oil palm and rubber plantation expansion were the principal drivers of deforestation within EHS of insular and mainland SE Asia, respectively. Over the study period, oil palm shifted in importance from Sumatra and Sarawak to Papua and Kalimantan, whereas rubber became prominent in Cambodia and Tanintharyi from 2006 to 2015. As of 2019, more than 170 000 km(2) of SE Asia's remaining forest occurred within EHS, of which 21.7% was protected. High and medium-integrity forest constituted 19.2% and 49.1% of remaining EHS forest, respectively, but of these, 35.0% of high-integrity and 23.9% of medium-integrity EHS forest were protected. Because we anticipate that tree plantation expansion will continue to drive deforestation in SE Asia, significantly heightened protection is needed to secure the long-term preservation of high and medium-integrity forest, especially in highly contested forest frontier regions. Finally, as a flexible, integrated process, Emergent Threat Analysis is applicable to deforestation fronts across the global tropics.Peer reviewe

Effects of different operating parameters on hydrogen production by Parageobacillus thermoglucosidasius DSM 6285

Hydrogen gas represents a promising alternative energy source to dwindling fossil fuel reserves, as it carries the highest energy per unit mass and its combustion results in the release of water vapour as only byproduct. The facultatively anaerobic thermophile Parageobacillus thermoglucosidasius is able to produce hydrogen via the water–gas shift reaction catalyzed by a carbon monoxide dehydrogenase–hydrogenase enzyme complex. Here we have evaluated the effects of several operating parameters on hydrogen production, including different growth temperatures, pre-culture ages and inoculum sizes, as well as different pHs and concentrations of nickel and iron in the fermentation medium. All of the tested parameters were observed to have a substantive effect on both hydrogen yield and (specific) production rates. A final experiment incorporating the best scenario for each tested parameter showed a marked increase in the H2 production rate compared to each individual parameter. The optimised parameters serve as a strong basis for improved hydrogen production with a view of commercialisation of this process

Structural basis of rotavirus RNA chaperone displacement and RNA annealing.

Rotavirus genomes are distributed between 11 distinct RNA molecules, all of which must be selectively copackaged during virus assembly. This likely occurs through sequence-specific RNA interactions facilitated by the RNA chaperone NSP2. Here, we report that NSP2 autoregulates its chaperone activity through its C-terminal region (CTR) that promotes RNA-RNA interactions by limiting its helix-unwinding activity. Unexpectedly, structural proteomics data revealed that the CTR does not directly interact with RNA, while accelerating RNA release from NSP2. Cryo-electron microscopy reconstructions of an NSP2-RNA complex reveal a highly conserved acidic patch on the CTR, which is poised toward the bound RNA. Virus replication was abrogated by charge-disrupting mutations within the acidic patch but completely restored by charge-preserving mutations. Mechanistic similarities between NSP2 and the unrelated bacterial RNA chaperone Hfq suggest that accelerating RNA dissociation while promoting intermolecular RNA interactions may be a widespread strategy of RNA chaperone recycling

KL Estimation of the Power Spectrum Parameters from the Angular Distribution of Galaxies in Early SDSS Data

We present measurements of parameters of the 3-dimensional power spectrum of galaxy clustering from 222 square degrees of early imaging data in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. The projected galaxy distribution on the sky is expanded over a set of Karhunen-Loeve eigenfunctions, which optimize the signal-to-noise ratio in our analysis. A maximum likelihood analysis is used to estimate parameters that set the shape and amplitude of the 3-dimensional power spectrum. Our best estimates are Gamma=0.188 +/- 0.04 and sigma_8L = 0.915 +/- 0.06 (statistical errors only), for a flat Universe with a cosmological constant. We demonstrate that our measurements contain signal from scales at or beyond the peak of the 3D power spectrum. We discuss how the results scale with systematic uncertainties, like the radial selection function. We find that the central values satisfy the analytically estimated scaling relation. We have also explored the effects of evolutionary corrections, various truncations of the KL basis, seeing, sample size and limiting magnitude. We find that the impact of most of these uncertainties stay within the 2-sigma uncertainties of our fiducial result.Comment: Fig 1 postscript problem correcte

ERS statement on standardisation of cardiopulmonary exercise testing in chronic lung diseases

The objective of this document was to standardise published cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) protocols for improved interpretation in clinical settings and multicentre research projects. This document: 1) summarises the protocols and procedures used in published studies focusing on incremental CPET in chronic lung conditions; 2) presents standard incremental protocols for CPET on a stationary cycle ergometer and a treadmill; and 3) provides patients’ perspectives on CPET obtained through an online survey supported by the European Lung Foundation. We systematically reviewed published studies obtained from EMBASE, Medline, Scopus, Web of Science and the Cochrane Library from inception to January 2017. Of 7914 identified studies, 595 studies with 26 523 subjects were included. The literature supports a test protocol with a resting phase lasting at least 3 min, a 3-min unloaded phase, and an 8- to 12-min incremental phase with work rate increased linearly at least every minute, followed by a recovery phase of at least 2–3 min. Patients responding to the survey (n=295) perceived CPET as highly beneficial for their diagnostic assessment and informed the Task Force consensus. Future research should focus on the individualised estimation of optimal work rate increments across different lung diseases, and the collection of robust normative data.The document facilitates standardisation of conducting, reporting and interpreting cardiopulmonary exercise tests in chronic lung diseases for comparison of reference data, multi-centre studies and assessment of interventional efficacy. http://bit.ly/31SXeB