Novel In-Vitro Epilepsy iPSC Model

The main focus of this ARCH research project is to create a novel in-vitro epilepsy model will using iPSC techniques. Neural tissue will be collected from both epileptic and control rats and then the neural tissue will be induced to pluripotent stem cells and regrown in a petri dish. It has been hypothesized that the regrown stem cells will have the same genetic characteristics as the host cells they come from. To confirm this both Western Blot and RTPCR will be performed on both the host tissue and the newly grown astrocytes and neurons (of both epileptic and control rats) to see if they share the same genetic/protein expression characteristics. This new epilepsy model, once established, will be used to facilitate the investigation of the correlation between epilepsy and genetic abnormalities in both neurons and astrocyte cells, critical to the development of better treatments of epilepsy

What Can Your Computer Recognize: Chemical and Facial Pattern Recognition Through the Use of the Eigen Analysis Method

Seeing patterns in the world is part of the human condition. If the numbers 2, 4, 6, 8,... are put before someone they will readily recognize the pattern of counting by two and be able to continue the sequence with the number 10, 12, . . . . Similarly, someone who is moderately acquainted with mathematics would recognize the numbers 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8,... as the Fibonacci sequence. Yet, patterns are not simply limited to what can be observed within mathematical relationships. Yet, while humans can identify the pattern found within the frieze, a computer could not perform the same recognition with the ease or sophistication inherent to the human mind. Even the seemingly simple act of reading and comprehending the sentences on a page is an example of pattern recognition that can be performed with a sense of effortlessness by a human, but with only moderate success by a computer

The Unevolved Main Sequence of Nearby Field Stars and the Open Cluster Distance Scale

The slope and zero-point of the unevolved main sequence as a function of metallicity are investigated using a homogeneous catalog of nearby field stars with absolute magnitudes defined with revised Hipparcos parallaxes, Tycho-2 photometry, and precise metallicities from high-dispersion spectroscopy. (B-V)-temperature relations are derived from 1746 stars between [Fe/H] = -0.5 and +0.6 and 372 stars within 0.05 dex of solar abundance; for T_e = 5770 K, the solar color is B-V= 0.652 +/- 0.002 (s.e.m.). From over 500 cool dwarfs between [Fe/H] = -0.5 and +0.5, Delta(B-V)/Delta[Fe/H] at fixed M_V = 0.213 +/- 0.005, with a very weak dependence upon the adopted main sequence slope with B-V at a given [Fe/H]. At Hyades metallicity this translates into Delta M_V/Delta[Fe/H] at fixed B-V = 0.98 +/- 0.02, midway between the range of values empirically derived from smaller and/or less homogeneous samples and model isochrones. From field stars of similar metallicity, the Hyades ([Fe/H] = +0.13) with no reddening has (m-M)_0 = 3.33 +/- 0.02 and M67, with E(B-V) = 0.041, A_V = 3.1E(B-V), and [Fe/H] = 0.00, has (m-M)_0 = 9.71 +/- 0.02 (s.e.m), where the errors quoted refer to internal errors alone. At the extreme end of the age and metallicity scale, with E(B-V) = 0.125 +/- 0.025 and [Fe/H] = +0.39 +/- 0.06, comparison of the fiducial relation for NGC 6791 to 19 field stars with (B-V) above 0.90 and [Fe/H] = +0.25 or higher, adjusted to the metallicity of NGC 6791, leads to (m-M)_0 = 13.07 +/- 0.09, internal and systematic errors included.Comment: 32 pages, 8 eps figures, latex; accepted for PAS

Human Face Recognition Technology Using the Karhunen-Loeve Expansion Technique

We will explore the area of face recognition using the partial singular value decomposition of a matrix and test some of its successes and limitations. We constructed a database consisting of 130 pictures of 65 individuals, and then used the Karhunen-Loéve (KL) Expansion method to relate pictures from outside the database to those in the database. While this method was generally very successful, we were able to test and define several of its limitations

THE UNSYSTEMATIC SURVIVAL OF SYSTEMS: THE PARASITE, THE JOKER AND THE BRICOLEUR IN MICHEL SERRES AND CLAUDE LEVI-STRAUSS

With our increasing reliance on systems from information theory to economics, it is important to understand how systems are constructed, how they break down and how they preserve themselves. The philosopher Michel Serres in his work The Parasite showed how systems can never preserve their order in a pure manner; they always involve noise and lost signals. He explores this by employing the idea of parasitism from biology. But the problem remains of how systems maintain themselves in the face of parasitism. This paper will explore the concept of bricolage conceived by structural anthropologist Claude Levi-Strauss in his seminal work The Savage Mind. This concept can be found within a single ambiguous quotation by Serres in The Parasite, but remains undeveloped. This article will therefore develop these connections between bricolage and parasitism, and show how bricolage is important to the adaptation of any system to change

On Planar Greedy Drawings of 3-Connected Planar Graphs

A graph drawing is greedy if, for every ordered pair of vertices (x,y), there is a path from x to y such that the Euclidean distance to y decreases monotonically at every vertex of the path. Greedy drawings support a simple geometric routing scheme, in which any node that has to send a packet to a destination "greedily" forwards the packet to any neighbor that is closer to the destination than itself, according to the Euclidean distance in the drawing. In a greedy drawing such a neighbor always exists and hence this routing scheme is guaranteed to succeed. In 2004 Papadimitriou and Ratajczak stated two conjectures related to greedy drawings. The greedy embedding conjecture states that every 3-connected planar graph admits a greedy drawing. The convex greedy embedding conjecture asserts that every 3-connected planar graph admits a planar greedy drawing in which the faces are delimited by convex polygons. In 2008 the greedy embedding conjecture was settled in the positive by Leighton and Moitra. In this paper we prove that every 3-connected planar graph admits a planar greedy drawing. Apart from being a strengthening of Leighton and Moitra\u27s result, this theorem constitutes a natural intermediate step towards a proof of the convex greedy embedding conjecture

The Effect of Nondiagnostic Information on Internal Auditor Skepticism: Capturing the Dilution Effect

Internal auditors assigned to assess internal controls over financial reporting incorporate irrelevant information into their judgment, showing decreased skepticism when irrelevant information contradicts preconceived stereotypes of management, known as the dilution effect and attributed to the representativeness heuristic. Irrelevant information consistent with preconceived stereotypes does not decrease skepticism. In this experiment practicing internal auditors are provided an irrelevant description of the Chief Information Officer portrayed as either gregarious or introverted then subsequently receive relevant internal controls information. When the Chief Information Officer is described as gregarious, counter to common stereotypes, internal auditors assess risk as less likely to occur compared to when the Chief Information Officer is described as introverted or when no personality information is provided. This study controls for individual differences in trait skepticism, perception of information relevance, and CIO warmth finding that the effect of irrelevant information on skeptical judgment is stable regardless of internal auditor experience, gender, and presence of a professional certification. These findings provide insight into how internal auditors incorporate information into a risk decision indicating that irrelevant information has a significant role in skeptical judgment

Patient Perspectives on Adherence to the New Hepatitis C Antiviral Medications: ‘A New Lease on Life’

This study explored patients’ perspectives about taking the new direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) for the treatment of Hepatitis C (i.e., sofosbuvir, simeprevir, ledipasvir/sofosbuvir, ombitasvir/paritraprevir/ritonavir and dasabuvir) to identify facilitators of medication adherence. The project was conducted using semi-structured interviews with 12 Veterans who successfully completed a treatment course on the new DAAs. The Veterans were recruited using purposive sampling. The data collected from the semi-structured interviews was analyzed using an adapted open coding method outlined by Auerbach and Silverstein (2003), with identification of relevant text sub-grouped into repeating ideas, and then creation of overarching themes and constructs. Results obtained provide insight into factors that influenced the Veterans’ medication adherence during the course of treatment. Key constructs, embodying major themes supported by repeating ideas, included recognizing the “burden of HCV,” the importance of the “treatment engagement process,” and anticipation of “positive outcomes.” Clinical implications are discussed

A vortex population viability analysis model for the Chacoan peccary (catagonus wagneri)

El quimilero o taguá (Catagonus wagneri) es una especie amenazada, endémica del Chaco Seco, para la cual disponemos de poca información. Para estimar cuantitativamente el riesgo de disminución y extinción de sus poblaciones silvestres generamos modelos de viabilidad poblacional. Con estos modelos matemáticos se pueden identificar factores naturales y antrópicos complejos que interactúan y que influyen en la persistencia y la salud de una población. Los modelos también se pueden utilizar para evaluar los efectos de diferentes estrategias de gestión, permitiendo identificar las acciones de conservación más efectivas para una población o especie. Además, estos modelos se pueden usar para identificar las necesidades de investigación debido a que ponen en evidencia los vacíos de información sobre la especie. Utilizando estos modelos, evaluamos la proyección poblacional en las condiciones actuales y en comparación con posibles variaciones existentes en el sistema. Para generar los parámetros ingresados en los modelos realizamos una reunión de especialistas y una revisión bibliográfica. Trabajó con valores de línea de base (base), mínimos (mín.) y máximos (máx.). Generamos diferentes modelos ante diferentes escenarios y testeamos la sensibilidad a la incertidumbre de cada modelo. Esto permitió establecer prioridades de investigación. Además, determinamos los tamaños mínimos de población viable considerando la incertidumbre y analizamos los posibles efectos de la caza en una población de esta especie.Fil: Leus, Kritin. International Union for Conservation of Nature. Species Survival Commission; DinamarcaFil: Altrichter, Mariana. International Union for Conservation of Nature. Species Survival Commission; Estados UnidosFil: Desbiez, Arnaud. International Union for Conservation of Nature. Species Survival Commission; BrasilFil: Camino, Micaela. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Nordeste. Centro de Ecología Aplicada del Litoral. Universidad Nacional del Nordeste. Centro de Ecología Aplicada del Litoral; ArgentinaFil: Giordano, Anthony J.. S.P.E.C.I.E.S.; Estados UnidosFil: Campos Krauer, Juan Manuel. University of Florida. Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation; Estados Unidos. Centro Chaqueño para la Conservación y la Investigación; ParaguayFil: Brooks, Daniel M.. Houston Museum Of Natural Science; Estados UnidosFil: Thompson, Jeffrey. Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología; ParaguayFil: Núñez Regueiro, Mauricio Manuel. University of Florida. Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation; Estados Unidos. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentin

The impact of out-of-theater supply flow visibility on in-theater logistics

Thesis (S.M. in Transportation)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, 2012.Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.Includes bibliographical references (p. 100-101).The United States Army's end-to-end logistical network during times of conflict is made up of two separate networks. One network, managed by the Department of Defense, controls the shipment of supplies from the manufacturing facility to the theater of conflict. The other network managed by the Army, receives these supplies and distributes them to the units within the theater of operation. The synchronization between these two networks impacts the ability of Army logistical planners to efficiently manage the in-theater supply chain. Past operations demonstrate that Army planners have minimal visibility into the supplies entering the theater of operation. This causes units to become dangerously low on supplies, compromising their ability to successfully complete missions. This thesis evaluates the impact this lack of visibility has on the performance of the in-theater supply chain. A logistical planner is developed, modeled after current operating procedures, to maximize a unit's satisfaction, by keeping their supply levels within an acceptable range. Using mixed linear programming the planner determines the amount of each supply and the numbers of vehicles required to transport the supplies. Results confirm that increasing the visibility of incoming supplies improves the performance of the planner. The amount of improvement is dependent on the selection of specific parameters. Additionally, the variation in the amount of supplies entering a theater has an effect on the planner's performance. We conclude that there is an operational benefit in having future knowledge of incoming supplies.by Michael A. Giordano.S.M.in Transportatio