Technical Progress and New Logistics Technologies

The objective of this paper is to study new developments in logistics technologies as a prerequisite and as a consequence of technical progress in the case of the United States. Logistics is used here to denote all systematic actions aimed at bringing materials form primary producers through all intermediate steps to the end user, i.e. logistics includes transportation, handling, storage, as well as all related information processing. The rapid growth of transport and communication output or productivity contributes to overall economic growth. The growth and spread of logistics technologies is likely to change the nature of modem economies. The nature of the effects of new logistics technologies can be characterized by their indirect and overall impact on productivity of the whole economy. By improving the efficiency of the chain from producer to end user it contributes to that part of the growth rate that con not be explained by the increase in capital and labor inputs solely. This study shows that the unexplained residual of conventional production functions, i.e. the growth accounted to technical progress can be explained, at least partly, by factors expressing changes in logistic structures and their performance. Using the data given by N.E. Terleckyj (1984), who analyses the growth of the U.S. communication industry, we extend our focus to transport sector as well, and following the traditional line of production literature this paper present estimates concerning the role of logistics factors in explaining the rate of growth

On the Shape of Liquid Metal Droplets in Electromagnetic Levitation Experiments

We present calculations and measurements on the shape of liquid metal droplets in electromagnetic levitation experiments. A normal stress balance model was developed to predict the shapes of liquid metal droplets that will be obtained in a microgravity experiment to measure the viscosity and surface tension of undercooled metals. This model was tested by calculating the droplet shapes in containerless experiments conducted to determine the surface tension of liquid metals. Inconsistencies associated with the results of a previous paper are elucidated. The computational results of the mathematical model are compared with the results of ground-based experiments for two different metals. The importance of the ratio of electromagnetic skin depth-to-droplet radius to the accuracy of the mathematical model is discussed. A planned alternate approach to modeling the shape by consideration of the entire droplet rather than only the surface is presented. As an example of an application. the influence of the shape on the splitting of the surface oscillation modes of levitated liquid metal droplets is discussed

Survival of ancient landforms in a collisional setting as revealed by combined fission track and (U-Th)/He thermochronometry: A case study from Corsica (France)

The age of high-elevation planation surfaces in Corsica is constrained using new apatite (U-Th)/He data, field observations, and published work (zircon fission track, apatite fission track [AFT] data and landform/stratigraphical analysis). Thermal modeling results based on AFT and (U-Th)/He data, and the Eocene sediments uncomformably overlapping the Variscan crystalline basement indicate that present-day elevated planation surfaces in Corsica are the remnants of an erosion surface formed on the basement between ∼120 and ∼60 Ma. During the Alpine collision in the Paleocene-Eocene, the Variscan crystalline basement was buried beneath a westward-thinning wedge of flysch, and the eastern portion was overridden by the Alpine nappes. Resetting of the apatite fission track thermochronometer suggests an overburden thickness of >4 km covering Variscan Corsica. Protected by soft sediment, the planation surface was preserved. In the latest Oligocene to Miocene times, the surface was re-exposed and offset by reactivated faults, with individual basement blocks differentially uplifted in several phases to elevations of, in some cases, >2 km.Currently the planation surface remnants occur at different altitudes and with variable tilt. This Corsican example demonstrates that under favorable conditions, paleolandforms typical of tectonically inactive areas can survive in tectonically active settings such as at collisional plate margins. The results of some samples also reveal some discrepancies in thermal histories modeled from combined AFT and (U-Th)/He data. In some cases, models could not find a cooling path that fit both data sets, while in other instances, the modeled cooling paths suggest isothermal holding at temperature levels just below the apatite partial annealing zone followed by final late Neogene cooling. This result appears to be an artifact of the modeling algorithm as it is in conflict with independent geological constraints. Caution should be used when cross-validating the AFT and (U-Th)/He systems both in the case extremely old terrains and in the case of rocks with a relatively simple, young cooling history

The Effect of Colcemid on the Heat Survival of Mitotic V79 Chinese Hamster Cells

V79 Chinese hamster cells were collected by colcemid addition to study the effect of heat on mitosis. When they were heated at 42°C and 45°C in the presence of 0.06 μg/mL colcemid, cell survival increased over the control samples, which were heated in ordinary medium. Scanning electron microscopy showed that cells heated to 45°C in the presence or absence of colcemid had fewer microvilli on the surface, but they did not have increased bleb formation. Transmission electron microscopy showed that the chromatin was diffuse in the heated cells and the kinetochores were indistinct. The mitochondria in the heated cells were also swollen and contained visible particles

Wireless sensor networks for in-situ image validation for water and nutrient management

Water and Nitrogen (N) are critical inputs for crop production. Remote sensing data collected from multiple scales, including ground-based, aerial, and satellite, can be used for the formulation of an efficient and cost effective algorithm for the detection of N and water stress. Formulation and validation of such techniques require continuous acquisition of ground based spectral data over the canopy enabling field measurements to coincide exactly with aerial and satellite observations. In this context, a wireless sensor in situ network was developed and this paper describes the results of the first phase of the experiment along with the details of sensor development and instrumentation set up. The sensor network was established based on different spatial sampling strategies and each sensor collected spectral data in seven narrow wavebands (470, 550, 670, 700, 720, 750, 790 nm) critical for monitoring crop growth. Spectral measurements recorded at required intervals (up to 30 seconds) were relayed through a multi-hop wireless network to a base computer at the field site. These data were then accessed by the remote sensing centre computing system through broad band internet. Comparison of the data from the WSN and an industry standard ground based hyperspectral radiometer indicated that there were no significant differences in the spectral measurements for all the wavebands except for 790nm. Combining sensor and wireless technologies provides a robust means of aerial and satellite data calibration and an enhanced understanding of issues of variations in the scale for the effective water and nutrient management in wheat.<br /

In silico evolution of diauxic growth

The glucose effect is a well known phenomenon whereby cells, when presented with two different nutrients, show a diauxic growth pattern, i.e. an episode of exponential growth followed by a lag phase of reduced growth followed by a second phase of exponential growth. Diauxic growth is usually thought of as a an adaptation to maximise biomass production in an environment offering two or more carbon sources. While diauxic growth has been studied widely both experimentally and theoretically, the hypothesis that diauxic growth is a strategy to increase overall growth has remained an unconfirmed conjecture. Here, we present a minimal mathematical model of a bacterial nutrient uptake system and metabolism. We subject this model to artificial evolution to test under which conditions diauxic growth evolves. As a result, we find that, indeed, sequential uptake of nutrients emerges if there is competition for nutrients and the metabolism/uptake system is capacity limited. However, we also find that diauxic growth is a secondary effect of this system and that the speed-up of nutrient uptake is a much larger effect. Notably, this speed-up of nutrient uptake coincides with an overall reduction of efficiency. Our two main conclusions are: (i) Cells competing for the same nutrients evolve rapid but inefficient growth dynamics. (ii) In the deterministic models we use here no substantial lag-phase evolves. This suggests that the lag-phase is a consequence of stochastic gene expression

Анализ результатов биопсий предстательной железы, выполненных с 10-летним интервалом

Introduction and objective: the authors compared the results of biopsies performed in 1994 and 2004, respectively.The analysis of the results of prostate biopsy obtained in 1994 and 2004 was carried out. Prostate cancer is the most common malignant tumor in males; its diagnostic algorithm and therapy were analyzed. The aim of the study was to compare data from the prostate biopsies performed in 1994 with those of 2004. During this decade, 4.5 fold increase of the number of prostate biopsies has been observed. In 1994, 36.2%, while in 2004, 47.5% of the biopsies proved to be a cancer. The mean age of the patients undergoing biopsy decreased from 69.7 to 62.3 years; however, the mean age of patients who were suffering from prostate cancer remained constant (70.8 vs. 71.3 years).Conclusions: Whereas in 1994 only the total level of PSA was estimated, in 2004 the diagnostic algorithm included additional measurements of free-PSA and PSA-density. Prostate biopsy was performed by a trans-rectal ultrasound guided technique unlike the blind or trans-perineal methods which were only available previously. Although the effectiveness of the prostate biopsy is improved, the diagnosis and identification of prostate cancer at a younger age remains to be a challenge. The Gleason score marking the aggressiveness of the prostate cancers was lower; therefore, more patients were found suitable for curative surgery. However, the increased mean value of PSA level indicated that patients were still rather of a more advanced stage in majority, which could only be treated by palliative therapy.

On Feeding Business Systems with Linked Resources from the Web of Data

Business systems that are fed with data from the Web of Data require transparent interoperability. The Linked Data principles establish that different resources that represent the same real-world entities must be linked for such purpose. Link rules are paramount to transparent interoperability since they produce the links between resources. State-of-the-art link rules are learnt by genetic programming and build on comparing the values of the attributes of the resources. Unfortunately, this approach falls short in cases in which resources have similar values for their attributes, but represent different real-world entities. In this paper, we present a proposal that leverages a genetic programming that learns link rules and an ad-hoc filtering technique that boosts them to decide whether the links that they produce must be selected or not. Our analysis of the literature reveals that our approach is novel and our experimental analysis confirms that it helps improve the F1 score by increasing precision without a significant penalty on recall.Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad TIN2013-40848-RMinisterio de Economía y Competitividad TIN2016- 75394-

The Bloom's syndrome helicase (BLM) interacts physically and functionally with p12, the smallest subunit of human DNA polymerase δ

Bloom's syndrome (BS) is a cancer predisposition disorder caused by mutation of the BLM gene, encoding a member of the RecQ helicase family. Although the phenotype of BS cells is suggestive of a role for BLM in repair of stalled or damaged replication forks, thus far there has been no direct evidence that BLM associates with any of the three human replicative DNA polymerases. Here, we show that BLM interacts specifically in vitro and in vivo with p12, the smallest subunit of human POL δ (hPOL δ). The hPOL δ enzyme, as well as the isolated p12 subunit, stimulates the DNA helicase activity of BLM. Conversely, BLM stimulates hPOL δ strand displacement activity. Our results provide the first functional link between BLM and the replicative machinery in human cells, and suggest that BLM might be recruited to sites of disrupted replication through an interaction with hPOL δ. Finally, our data also define a novel role for the poorly characterized p12 subunit of hPOL δ

Dynamical principles in neuroscience

Dynamical modeling of neural systems and brain functions has a history of success over the last half century. This includes, for example, the explanation and prediction of some features of neural rhythmic behaviors. Many interesting dynamical models of learning and memory based on physiological experiments have been suggested over the last two decades. Dynamical models even of consciousness now exist. Usually these models and results are based on traditional approaches and paradigms of nonlinear dynamics including dynamical chaos. Neural systems are, however, an unusual subject for nonlinear dynamics for several reasons: (i) Even the simplest neural network, with only a few neurons and synaptic connections, has an enormous number of variables and control parameters. These make neural systems adaptive and flexible, and are critical to their biological function. (ii) In contrast to traditional physical systems described by well-known basic principles, first principles governing the dynamics of neural systems are unknown. (iii) Many different neural systems exhibit similar dynamics despite having different architectures and different levels of complexity. (iv) The network architecture and connection strengths are usually not known in detail and therefore the dynamical analysis must, in some sense, be probabilistic. (v) Since nervous systems are able to organize behavior based on sensory inputs, the dynamical modeling of these systems has to explain the transformation of temporal information into combinatorial or combinatorial-temporal codes, and vice versa, for memory and recognition. In this review these problems are discussed in the context of addressing the stimulating questions: What can neuroscience learn from nonlinear dynamics, and what can nonlinear dynamics learn from neuroscience?This work was supported by NSF Grant No. NSF/EIA-0130708, and Grant No. PHY 0414174; NIH Grant No. 1 R01 NS50945 and Grant No. NS40110; MEC BFI2003-07276, and Fundación BBVA