Design of Introspective Circuits for Analysis of Cell-Level Dis-orientation in Self-Assembled Cellular Systems

This paper discusses a novel approach to managing complexity in a large self-assembled system, by utilizing the self-assembling components themselves to address the complexity. A particular challenge is discussed – namely the question of how to deal with elements that are assembled in different orientations from each other – and a solution based on the idea ofintrospective circuitry is described. A methodology for using a set of cells to determine a nearby cell’s orientation is given, leading to a slow (O(n)) means of orienting a 2D region of cells. A modified algorithm is then describe to allow parallel analysis of/adaption to dis-oriented cells, thus allowing re-orientation of an entire 2D region of cells with better-than-linear time performance (O(sqrt(n))). The significance of this work is discussed not only in terms of managing arrays of dis-oriented cells but also more importantly as an example of the usefulness of local, distributed self-configuration to create and use introspective circuitry

Reabilitação física de cães com hérnias de disco toracolombares

Dissertação de Mestrado Integrado em Medicina VeterináriaAs hérnias de disco intervertebral são uma doença neurológica comum, debilitante e dolorosa em cães, principalmente de raças condrodistróficas. Caracterizam-se pela extrusão ou protusão de material discal para o interior do canal medular, causando contusão e/ou compressão da medula espinhal e/ou das raízes nervosas. A localização toracolombar é a mais frequente e os sinais clínicos são variados, desde dor na região vertebral afetada a paraplegia com perda da sensibilidade profunda e disfunção genitourinária. O diagnóstico é complexo e implica um exame neurológico completo e técnicas imagiológicas avançadas. A descompressão cirúrgica com remoção do material discal é um tratamento bem aceite em cães com diferentes graus de disfunção neurológica e deve ser acompanhada de uma terapêutica médica adequada. Os indicadores de prognóstico destes animais incluem: a gravidade dos sinais neurológicos pré-cirúrgicos, com grande destaque para a avaliação da sensibilidade profunda; os achados dos exames imagiológicos; a análise de biomarcadores no líquido cefalorraquidiano; a avaliação neurológica pós-cirúrgica; entre outros. A reabilitação física animal é uma área científica em crescimento. Reabilitação refere-se ao processo após lesão que visa atingir o melhor nível de função, independência e qualidade de vida dos animais e a fisioterapia consiste na aplicação de estímulos físicos a vários tecidos para que ocorra a sua recuperação, através de diferentes modalidades. A acupuntura é uma técnica de reabilitação milenar com resultados favoráveis e útil no tratamento de hérnias discais. Nesta dissertação serão apresentados e discutidos cinco casos clínicos muito distintos de cães com hérnias discais, o protocolo de reabilitação física implementado e a recuperação alcançada. Concluiu-se que para atingir o sucesso terapêutico é importante implementar boas técnicas fisioterápicas, estimulando o sistema sensitivo, as articulações e a musculatura do animal, incentivando-o a movimentar-se e, mesmo quando não se obtém a recuperação desejada, existem alternativas à eutanásia.ABSTRACT - PHYSICAL REHABILITION OF DOGS WITH THORACOLUMBAR DISC HERNIATION - Intervertebral disc herniation is a common, debilitating and painful neurological disease in dogs, especially chondrodystrofic breeds. It is characterized by extrusion or protusion of disc material to the inside of the medullary canal, causing contusion and/or compression of the spinal cord and/or spinal roots. Thoracolumbar is the most frequent location and clinical signs are diverse, from pain in the affected vertebral region to paraplegia with loss of deep sensation and genitourinary dysfunction. The diagnosis is complex and requires a complete neurological exam and advanced imaging. Surgical decompression with removal of disc material is a well-accepted treatment in dogs with various degrees of neurological dysfunction and should be accompanied by adequate medical treatment. Prognosis indicators in these animals include: the pre-surgical severity of signs, with great underline for deep sensation; findings from imaging exams; biomarkers analysis in cerebrospinal fluid; post-surgical neurological evaluation; amongst others. Animal physical rehabilitation is a growing scientific area. Rehabilitation refers to the process after a lesion that aims to attain the best function level, independence and quality of life of the animals, and physiotherapy consists on applying physical stimuli to various tissues so they recover, through several modalities. Acupuncture is a millennial technique with favorable results and useful in treating disc herniation. In this dissertation, five very distinct clinical cases of dogs with disc herniation, along with implemented physical rehabilitation protocols and recovery accomplished will be presented and discussed. Conclusions are that to attain therapeutical success it’s important to implement good physiotherapeutic techniques, stimulating the dog’s sensation system, articulations and muscles, incentivizing it to move and even when the desired recovery is not accomplished, there are alternatives to euthanasia

GPGPU computation and visualization of three-dimensional cellular automata

This paper presents a general-purpose simulation approach integrating a set of technological developments and algorithmic methods in cellular automata (CA) domain. The approach provides a general-purpose computing on graphics processor units (GPGPU) implementation for computing and multiple rendering of any direct-neighbor three-dimensional (3D) CA. The major contributions of this paper are: the CA processing and the visualization of large 3D matrices computed in real time; the proposal of an original method to encode and transmit large CA functions to the graphics processor units in real time; and clarification of the notion of top-down and bottom-up approaches to CA that non-CA experts often confuse. Additionally a practical technique to simplify the finding of CA functions is implemented using a 3D symmetric configuration on an interactive user interface with simultaneous inside and surface visualizations. The interactive user interface allows for testing the system with different project ideas and serves as a test bed for performance evaluation. To illustrate the flexibility of the proposed method, visual outputs from diverse areas are demonstrated. Computational performance data are also provided to demonstrate the method’s efficiency. Results indicate that when large matrices are processed, computations using GPU are two to three hundred times faster than the identical algorithms using CPU

Temporal and spatial analysis of Neural tube defects and detection of geographical factors in Shanxi Province, China

Background: Neural tube defects (NTDs) are congenital birth defects that occur in the central nervous system, and they have the highest incidence among all birth defects. Shanxi Province in China has the world's highest rate of NTDs. Since the 1990s, China's government has worked on many birth defect prevention programs to reduce the occurrence of NTDs, such as pregnancy planning, health education, genetic counseling, antenatal ultrasonography and serological screening. However, the rate of NTDs in Shanxi Province is still higher than the world's average morbidity rate after intervention. In addition, Shanxi Province has abundant coal reserves, and is the largest coal production province in China. The objectives of this study are to determine the temporal and spatial variation of the NTD rate in rural areas of Shanxi Province, China, and identify geographical environmental factors that were associated with NTDs in the risk area. Methods: In this study, Heshun County and Yuanping County in Shanxi Province, which have high incidence of NTDs, were selected as the study areas. Two paired sample T test was used to analyze the changes in the risk of NTDs from the time dimension. Ripley's k function and spatial filtering were combined with geographic information system (GIS) software to study the changes in the risk of NTDs from the spatial dimension. In addition, geographical detectors were used to identify the risk geographical environmental factors of NTDs in the study areas, especially the areas close to the coal sites and main roads. Results: In both Heshun County and Yuanping County, the incidence of NTDs was significantly (P<0.05) reduced after intervention. The results from spatial analysis showed that significant spatial heterogeneity existed in both counties. NTD clusters were still identified in areas close to coal sites and main roads after interventions. This study also revealed that the elevation, fault and soil types always had a larger influence on the incidence of NTDs in our study areas. In addition, distance to the river was a risk factor of NTDs in areas close to the coal sites and main roads. Conclusion: The existing interventions may have played an important role to reduce the incidence of NTDs. However, there is still spatial heterogeneity in both counties after using the traditional intervention methods. The government needs to take more measures to strengthen the environmental restoration to prevent the occurrence of NTDs, especially those areas close to coal sites and main roads. The outcome of this research provides an important theoretical basis and technical support for the government to prevent the occurrence of NTDs

Evaporation: a Technique for Visualizing Mesh Quality

The work described here addresses information generated during mesh preprocessing, specifically mesh quality indicators derived on a per-element basis. A technique is introduced for visualizing per-element quality indicators which allows the researcher to see the spatial distribution of the indicator across the entire mesh. The technique uses time as a display axis, creating a succession of images in which the mesh is gradually eroded down to its “worst ” elements. The technique is described algorithmically here and is applied to an example. In addition to supplying the user with the locations of the worst mesh elements, the technique appears to provide its user with a good high-level understanding of the relationship between mesh geometry and quality. This may also prove to be a useful technique for observing successive refinements of a mesh

The impacted lower third molar,

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