Test of Information Theory on the Boltzmann Equation

We examine information theory using the steady-state Boltzmann equation. In a nonequilibrium steady-state system under steady heat conduction, the thermodynamic quantities from information theory are calculated and compared with those from the steady-state Boltzmann equation. We have found that information theory is inconsistent with the steady-state Boltzmann equation.Comment: 12 page

The Structure of Urinary Catheter Encrusting Bacterial Biofilms

A major complication of long-term urethral catheterization is catheter blockage by encrustation. We have examined 20 encrusted catheters and in each case crystal formation was associated with the presence of bacterial biofilms on the luminal surfaces. Scanning electron microscopy and X-ray microanalysis indicated the presence of struvite and hydroxyapatite in the biofilms. Urease producing bacteria were colonizing 16 of the catheters. Proteus mirabilis was the commonest species being recovered from ten of the catheters. These results support the hypothesis that catheter encrustation has a similar etiology to that of infection-induced urinary stones and confirm that the important target for any attempt to control catheter encrustations is Pr. mirabilis

Classification of Message Spreading in a Heterogeneous Social Network

Nowadays, social networks such as Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn become increasingly popular. In fact, they introduced new habits, new ways of communication and they collect every day several information that have different sources. Most existing research works fo-cus on the analysis of homogeneous social networks, i.e. we have a single type of node and link in the network. However, in the real world, social networks offer several types of nodes and links. Hence, with a view to preserve as much information as possible, it is important to consider so-cial networks as heterogeneous and uncertain. The goal of our paper is to classify the social message based on its spreading in the network and the theory of belief functions. The proposed classifier interprets the spread of messages on the network, crossed paths and types of links. We tested our classifier on a real word network that we collected from Twitter, and our experiments show the performance of our belief classifier

Some thoughts about nonequilibrium temperature

The main objective of this paper is to show that, within the present framework of the kinetic theoretical approach to irreversible thermodynamics, there is no evidence that provides a basis to modify the ordinary Fourier equation relating the heat flux in a non-equilibrium steady state to the gradient of the local equilibrium temperature. This fact is supported, among other arguments, through the kinetic foundations of generalized hydrodynamics. Some attempts have been recently proposed asserting that, in the presence of non-linearities of the state variables, such a temperature should be replaced by the non-equilibrium temperature as defined in Extended Irreversible Thermodynamics. In the approximations used for such a temperature there is so far no evidence that sustains this proposal.Comment: 13 pages, TeX, no figures, to appear in Mol. Phy

Dietary fatty acids: is it time to change the recommendations

Limiting the saturated fatty acid (SAFA) consumption forms the basis of dietary fat recommendations for heart health, despite several meta-analyses demonstrating no link be- tween dietary SAFA and the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Three experts on dietary fat and health discussed the evidence of reducing SAFA intake at a symposium of the Federation of European Nutrition Societies in Berlin, Germany, October 23, 2015. Ronald P. Mensink, Maastricht University, the Netherlands, discussed the evidence linking dietary fatty acids and CVD risk. He emphasized the impor- tance of the replacement nutrient(s) when SAFA intake is re- duced. Julie Lovegrove, University of Reading, UK, addressed the question of whether higher intakes of unsaturated fatty acids are beneficial. She discussed the replacement of SAFA by polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) and monounsaturat- ed fatty acids (MUFA), noting the reduction in CVD risk with PUFA replacement and in CVD risk markers with MUFA re- placement of SAFA. Ursula Schwab, University of Eastern Finland, Kuopio, Finland, discussed the importance of di- etary patterns in achieving reduced risk of CVD, observing that several dietary patterns following the principles of a health-promoting diet and adapted to local customs, food preferences and seasonality are effective in reducing the risk of CVD, type 2 diabetes and other chronic diseases. This pa- per summarizes the symposium presentations

Genomics, Prior Probability, and Statistical Tests of Multiple Hypotheses

Genomic methods have made statistical multiple-test methods important to geneticists and molecular biologists. These tests apply to identification of quantitative trait loci and measurement of changes in RNA or DNA abundance by microarray methods. Recently developed multiple-test methods provide more statistical power when many of the tested null hypotheses are false. At the same time, these methods can provide stringent control of errors in cases when most or all of the tested null hypotheses are true. These methods control errors in a different way from previous hypothesis tests, controlling or estimating quantities called the posterior error rate (PER), false discovery rate (FDR), or proportion of false positives (PFP), rather than the type I error. In this study, we attempt to clarify the relationships among these methods and demonstrate how the proportion of true null hypotheses among all tested hypotheses plays an important role

Associations of the porcine immune response and genetic polymorphisms with the shedding of Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium

A major focus of our collaborattve research is to investigate the porctne response to Infection with Salmonella to 1) identify porctne genes differentially regulated during Infection and 2) Identify and associate genetic polymorphisms within these genes with infection status across swine populations In the current study, 40 crossbred pigs were intranasally inoculated with Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium and monitored for Salmonella fecal shedding and blood 1mmune parameters at 2, 7, 14 and 20 days post-inoculation (dpi). Using a multivariate permutation test, a positive correlation was observed between Salmonella shedding and Interferon-gamma (IFNG) levels at 2 and 7 dpi (p\u3c0.05), with a greater number of Salmonella shedding 1n the animals with higher IFNG levels

Measuring Nonequilibrium Temperature of Forced Oscillators

The meaning of temperature in nonequilibrium thermodynamics is considered by using a forced harmonic oscillator in a heat bath, where we have two effective temperatures for the position and the momentum, respectively. We invent a concrete model of a thermometer to testify the validity of these different temperatures from the operational point of view. It is found that the measured temperature depends on a specific form of interaction between the system and a thermometer, which means the zeroth law of thermodynamics cannot be immediately extended to nonequilibrium cases.Comment: 8 page