Effect of a supplement rich in alkaline minerals on acid-base balance in humans

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Biological Stoichiometry in Human Cancer

A growing tumor in the body can be considered a complex ecological and evolutionary system. A new eco-evolutionary hypothesis (the "Growth Rate Hypothesis", GRH) proposes that tumors have elevated phosphorus (P) demands due to increased allocation to P-rich nucleic acids, especially ribosomal RNA, to meet the protein synthesis demands of accelerated proliferation.We determined the elemental (C, N, P) and nucleic acid contents of paired malignant and normal tissues from colon, lung, liver, or kidney for 121 patients. Consistent with the GRH, lung and colon tumors were significantly higher (by approximately two-fold) in P content (fraction of dry weight) and RNA content and lower in nitrogen (N):P ratio than paired normal tissue, and P in RNA contributed a significantly larger fraction of total biomass P in malignant relative to normal tissues. Furthermore, patient-specific differences for %P between malignant and normal tissues were positively correlated with such differences for %RNA, both for the overall data and within three of the four organ sites. However, significant differences in %P and %RNA between malignant and normal tissues were not seen in liver and kidney and, overall, RNA contributed only approximately 11% of total tissue P content.Data for lung and colon tumors provide support for the GRH in human cancer. The two-fold amplification of P content in colon and lung tumors may set the stage for potential P-limitation of their proliferation, as such differences often do for rapidly growing biota in ecosystems. However, data for kidney and liver do not support the GRH. To account for these conflicting observations, we suggest that local environments in some organs select for neoplastic cells bearing mutations increasing cell division rate ("r-selected," as in colon and lung) while conditions elsewhere may select for reduced mortality rate ("K-selected," as in liver and kidney)

An analysis of basic expressive qualities in instrumental conducting

Advances in sensing technology make the task of quantifying expressive human body movement more feasible than ever before. Success will enable breakthroughs in Humancomputer interaction (HCI) and control paradigms. In most areas, however, expressivity remains vague and difficult to define. We examine the movements of instrumental conductors at an elementary level to define particular qualities of a beat. In our test case, we focus on the difference between sostenuto and staccato articulation styles as a base for expressive qualities. We show that it is possible to define generic low-level movement features, we call movement primitives, to quantify the qualitative aspects of these two different articulation styles across a range of different tempi. Our movement primitives include the mean and variance of the magnitude of velocity and acceleration, and measures of spatial curvature. Each of these is measured from the ictus of one beat through the ictus of the next beat in a standard 4/4 beat pattern. The discriminative power of these features is demonstrated by two-tail t-tests and verified through Na??ve Bayes classification experiments. The results demonstrate that our use of movement primitives effectively describes characteristics of expression revealed in each beat of two different articulation styles

Step change approaches in coal technology and fugitive emissions research

Multi-factor productivity (MFP) in underground coal mining has been on the decline for the last decade. The mining industry requires a viable and sustainable approach to overcome the current downtrend. This is only possible by concurrently focussing on productivity improvement and operating costs reduction, delivered through both incremental and step change technology development. Four technologies are presented in this paper: fibre optic borehole sensing has been demonstrated to reveal detailed information about gas flow influx, water level and borehole blockage events occurring along the length of a surface-to-inseam lateral. Fibre optic gas sensing has also been investigated, and this technology promises a remote, intrinsically safe, distributed solution. Recent developments in continuous water jet drilling technology have demonstrated a step change increase in drilling rates and flexibility for coal seam degassing, applicable in both surface-to-inseam and underground in-seam applications. The application of water jet technology to the cable bolt drilling problem offers potential to address a serious health and safety and productivity issue in the roadway development process. Keywords: Coal seam gas, Fibre optic sensing, Gas sensing in borehole, Radial drilling, Roof boltin

The Role of Event Related Potentials in Pre-comprehension Processing of Consumers to Marketing Logos

Background: In human behavior study, by peering directly into the brain and assessing distinct patterns, evoked neurons and neuron spike can be more understandable by taking advantages of accurate brain analysis. Objectives: We investigated the role of Event Related Potentials (ERPs) in pre-comprehension processing of consumers to marketing logos. Materials and Methods: In the framework of an experimental design, twenty-six right-handed volunteers (13 men, 13 women) participated in 2013 in the University of Tabriz. An individual task with a presentation of familiar vs. unfamiliar logos was designed. Stimuli were displayed on a monitor controlled by a PC using the Mitsar® stimulus presentation system PsyTask. Statistical analyses of ERPs data were analyzed by repeated measures ANOVA. Results: Our results showed, when subjects were dealing with familiar logos, higher peak amplitude for the N1 component in right hemisphere of the brain can be observed. These variations on averages of early components of ERPs in occipital lobe can be referred to the pre-perceptual brain activities. Conclusion: Investigating early components of ERP can be utilized further as an effective factor in prediction of the consumers ‘preference particularly in neuromarketing field