High-Performance Interactive Scientific Visualization With Datoviz via the Vulkan Low-Level GPU API

We reported initial work towards a new fast and scalable scientific visualization technology that leverages the Vulkan API to achieve unprecedented performance through GPUs. This technology is implemented in a C/C++ library called Datoviz that offers an intermediate-level API for scientific visualization libraries and software. Datoviz provides a unified graphics stack for 2-D, 3-D, graphical user interfaces, and natively supports efficient interactions between rendering and general-purpose GPU computing. A major direction of development is to investigate the integration of Datoviz as a low-level backend of a future version of VisPy, a popular Python scientific plotting librar

Design for a Darwinian Brain: Part 1. Philosophy and Neuroscience

Physical symbol systems are needed for open-ended cognition. A good way to understand physical symbol systems is by comparison of thought to chemistry. Both have systematicity, productivity and compositionality. The state of the art in cognitive architectures for open-ended cognition is critically assessed. I conclude that a cognitive architecture that evolves symbol structures in the brain is a promising candidate to explain open-ended cognition. Part 2 of the paper presents such a cognitive architecture.Comment: Darwinian Neurodynamics. Submitted as a two part paper to Living Machines 2013 Natural History Museum, Londo

Mean-field Study of Charge, Spin, and Orbital Orderings in Triangular-lattice Compounds ANiO2 (A=Na, Li, Ag)

We present our theoretical results on the ground states in layered triangular-lattice compounds ANiO2 (A=Na, Li, Ag). To describe the interplay between charge, spin, orbital, and lattice degrees of freedom in these materials, we study a doubly-degenerate Hubbard model with electron-phonon couplings by the Hartree-Fock approximation combined with the adiabatic approximation. In a weakly-correlated region, we find a metallic state accompanied by \sqroot3x\sqroot3 charge ordering. On the other hand, we obtain an insulating phase with spin-ferro and orbital-ferro ordering in a wide range from intermediate to strong correlation. These phases share many characteristics with the low-temperature states of AgNiO2 and NaNiO2, respectively. The charge-ordered metallic phase is stabilized by a compromise between Coulomb repulsions and effective attractive interactions originating from the breathing-type electronphonon coupling as well as the Hund's-rule coupling. The spin-orbital-ordered insulating phase is stabilized by the cooperative effect of electron correlations and the Jahn-Teller coupling, while the Hund's-rule coupling also plays a role in the competition with other orbital-ordered phases. The results suggest a unified way of understanding a variety of low-temperature phases in ANiO2. We also discuss a keen competition among different spin-orbital-ordered phases in relation to a puzzling behavior observed in LiNiO2

Colorectal neuroendocrine carcinomas and adenocarcinomas share oncogenic pathways. A clinico-pathologic study of 12 cases

OBJECTIVE: Neuroendocrine carcinomas (NECs) are rare neoplasms with an increasing incidence. Oncogenetic pathways of colorectal NEC are still poorly understood, and no treatment standards are available for these rare tumors. METHODS: We analyzed retrospectively the clinical records and histology of 12 patients with colorectal NEC. KRAS and BRAF mutations were investigated after the dissection of exoendocrine and neuroendocrine components. ALK alterations and EML4-ALK transcripts were detected by in-situ hybridization and determination of fusion transcripts, respectively. RESULTS: At the time of diagnosis, the mean age of the patients was 60 years (40-79) and 10 patients had synchronous metastases. A transient response occurred in two patients and one patient treated with cisplatin-etoposide or fluoropyrimidine-oxaliplatin, respectively. Tumor progression-related death occurred in 11 of 12 patients. Ten tumors contained an exocrine component, accounting for 5-70% of the tumor, and the other two contained an amphicrine component. BRAF/KRAS mutations were found in six of 10 tumors, corresponding to BRAF(V600E) (n=2) or KRAS(G12D) (n=2), KRAS(G12V) or KRAS(G13D). DNA was obtained from both exocrine and endocrine components in seven cases, and the BRAF/KRAS status was identical in all cases. Split of the ALK locus was detected in a minority of tumor cells in two of eight cases, but EML4-ALK transcripts were absent. CONCLUSION: The association of an exocrine component in all cases and the similar profile of BRAF/KRAS mutations indicate that colorectal NEC may correspond to a high-grade transformation of colorectal carcinoma. New chemotherapy regimens using targeted therapies should be assessed in these tumors

Creep in structural-sized beams of argentinean Eucalyptus Grandis

The results presented in this paper were obtained from a test carried out during the last series of a research project regarding the creep behaviour of Argentinean Eucalyptus grandis loaded in dry condition. A test with a sample containing 15 structural-sized beams was carried out during 470 days. 7 pieces were free of pith and another 8 contained it. The results allow to compare the creep behaviour of these beams with previous data reported for both structural-sized and small-clear specimens of this timber species and also with those reported for other species. The effectiveness of the criteria adopted by overseas standards as well as those of Latin-American countries for calculating the creep deflections of this timber species under a long-term loading is analysed. The creep deflections obtained in the present research are higher than those calculated by means of the procedures of the Brazilian standard NBR 7190, the European standard Eurocode 5, the American standard National Design Specification for Wood Construction and the Peruvian standard. On the contrary, creep results obtained in this test are lower than those calculated according to the New Zealand standard NZS 3603, the Chilean standard NCh 1198 and the former German standard DIN 1052