Anti Collision Sensor Based Blind Stick

Visually impaired people find difficulties detecting obstacles in front of them, during walking in the street, which makes it dangerous. The smart stick comes as a proposed solution to enable them to identify the world around. In this paper we propose a solution, represented in a smart stick with ultrasonic sensor to detect any other obstacles in front, left and right of the user, within a range of four meters. Moreover, another sensor is placed at the bottom of the stick for the sake of avoiding puddles. The vibration of motor is activated when any obstacle is detected. The blind stick is integrated with ultrasonic sensor along with GPS ampGSM based Navigation/Tracking system. This proposed system uses the microcontroller ATmega 328 embedded system. The stick is capable of detecting all obstacles in the range 4 meter during 39 ms and gives a suitable respect message empowering blind to move twice his normal speed because she/he feels safe. The smart stick is of low cost, fast response, low power consumption, light weight

Genome-Scale Analysis of Programmed DNA Elimination Sites in Tetrahymena thermophila

Genetically programmed DNA rearrangements can regulate mRNA expression at an individual locus or, for some organisms, on a genome-wide scale. Ciliates rely on a remarkable process of whole-genome remodeling by DNA elimination to differentiate an expressed macronucleus (MAC) from a copy of the germline micronucleus (MIC) in each cycle of sexual reproduction. Here we describe results from the first high-throughput sequencing effort to investigate ciliate genome restructuring, comparing Sanger long-read sequences from a Tetrahymena thermophila MIC genome library to the MAC genome assembly. With almost 25% coverage of the unique-sequence MAC genome by MIC genome sequence reads, we created a resource for positional analysis of MIC-specific DNA removal that pinpoints MAC genome sites of DNA elimination at nucleotide resolution. The widespread distribution of internal eliminated sequences (IES) in promoter regions and introns suggests that MAC genome restructuring is essential not only for what it removes (for example, active transposons) but also for what it creates (for example, splicing-competent introns). Consistent with the heterogeneous boundaries and epigenetically modulated efficiency of individual IES deletions studied to date, we find that IES sites are dramatically under-represented in the ∼25% of the MAC genome encoding exons. As an exception to this general rule, we discovered a previously unknown class of small (<500 bp) IES with precise elimination boundaries that can contribute the 3′ exon of an mRNA expressed during genome restructuring, providing a new mechanism for expanding mRNA complexity in a developmentally regulated manner

Greater aortic inflammation and calcification in abdominal aortic aneurysmal disease than atherosclerosis: a prospective matched cohort study

Funder: British Heart Foundation; FundRef: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100000274Objective: Using combined positron emission tomography and CT (PET-CT), we measured aortic inflammation and calcification in patients with abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA), and compared them with matched controls with atherosclerosis. Methods: We prospectively recruited 63 patients (mean age 76.1±6.8 years) with asymptomatic aneurysm disease (mean size 4.33±0.73 cm) and 19 age-and-sex-matched patients with confirmed atherosclerosis but no aneurysm. Inflammation and calcification were assessed using combined 18F-FDG PET-CT and quantified using tissue-to-background ratios (TBRs) and Agatston scores. Results: In patients with AAA, 18F-FDG uptake was higher within the aneurysm than in other regions of the aorta (mean TBRmax2.23±0.46 vs 2.12±0.46, p=0.02). Compared with atherosclerotic control subjects, both aneurysmal and non-aneurysmal aortae showed higher 18F-FDG accumulation (total aorta mean TBRmax2.16±0.51 vs 1.70±0.22, p=0.001; AAA mean TBRmax2.23±0.45 vs 1.68±0.21, p<0.0001). Aneurysms containing intraluminal thrombus demonstrated lower 18F-FDG uptake within their walls than those without (mean TBRmax2.14±0.43 vs 2.43±0.45, p=0.018), with thrombus itself showing low tracer uptake (mean TBRmax thrombus 1.30±0.48 vs aneurysm wall 2.23±0.46, p<0.0001). Calcification in the aneurysmal segment was higher than both non-aneurysmal segments in patients with aneurysm (Agatston 4918 (2901–8008) vs 1017 (139–2226), p<0.0001) and equivalent regions in control patients (442 (304-920) vs 166 (80-374) Agatston units per cm, p=0.0042). Conclusions: The entire aorta is more inflamed in patients with aneurysm than in those with atherosclerosis, perhaps suggesting a generalised inflammatory aortopathy in patients with aneurysm. Calcification was prominent within the aneurysmal sac, with the remainder of the aorta being relatively spared. The presence of intraluminal thrombus, itself metabolically relatively inert, was associated with lower levels of inflammation in the adjacent aneurysmal wall

Ultracompact AM CVn Binaries from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey: Three Candidates Plus the First Confirmed Eclipsing System

AM CVn systems are a rare (about a dozen previously known) class of cataclysmic variables, arguably encompassing the shortest orbital periods (down to about 10 minutes) of any known binaries. Both binary components are thought to be degenerate (or partially so), likely with mass-transfer from a helium-rich donor onto a white dwarf, driven by gravitational radiation. Although rare, AM CVn systems are of high interest as possible SN Ia progenitors, and because they are predicted to be common sources of gravity waves in upcoming experiments such as LISA. We have identified four new AM CVn candidates from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) spectral database. All four show hallmark spectroscopic characteristics of the AM CVn class: each is devoid of hydrogen features, and instead shows a spectrum dominated by helium. All four show double-peaked emission, indicative of helium-dominated accretion disks. Limited time-series CCD photometric follow-on data have been obtained for three of the new candidates from the ARC 3.5m; most notably, a 28.3 minute binary period with sharp, deep eclipses is discovered in one case, SDSS J0926+3624. This is the first confirmed eclipsing AM CVn, and our data allow initial estimates of binary parameters for this ultracompact system. The four new SDSS objects also provide a substantial expansion of the currently critically-small sample of AM CVn systems.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures, submitted to the Astronomical Journa

The Minimal Complexity of Adapting Agents Increases with Fitness

What is the relationship between the complexity and the fitness of evolved organisms, whether natural or artificial? It has been asserted, primarily based on empirical data, that the complexity of plants and animals increases as their fitness within a particular environment increases via evolution by natural selection. We simulate the evolution of the brains of simple organisms living in a planar maze that they have to traverse as rapidly as possible. Their connectome evolves over 10,000s of generations. We evaluate their circuit complexity, using four information-theoretical measures, including one that emphasizes the extent to which any network is an irreducible entity. We find that their minimal complexity increases with their fitness

Sensitive Troponin Assay and the Classification of Myocardial Infarction

Background: Lowering the diagnostic threshold for troponin is controversial because it may disproportionately increase the diagnosis of myocardial infarction in patients without acute coronary syndrome. We assessed the impact of lowering the diagnostic threshold of troponin on the incidence, management, and outcome of patients with type 2 myocardial infarction or myocardial injury. Methods: Consecutive patients with elevated plasma troponin I concentrations (≥50 ng/L; n = 2929) were classified with type 1 (50%) myocardial infarction, type 2 myocardial infarction or myocardial injury (48%), and type 3 to 5 myocardial infarction (2%) before and after lowering the diagnostic threshold from 200 to 50 ng/L with a sensitive assay. Event-free survival from death and recurrent myocardial infarction was recorded at 1 year. Results: Lowering the threshold increased the diagnosis of type 2 myocardial infarction or myocardial injury more than type 1 myocardial infarction (672 vs 257 additional patients, P &#60; .001). Patients with myocardial injury or type 2 myocardial infarction were at higher risk of death compared with those with type 1 myocardial infarction (37% vs 16%; relative risk [RR], 2.31; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.98-2.69) but had fewer recurrent myocardial infarctions (4% vs 12%; RR, 0.35; 95% CI, 0.26-0.49). In patients with troponin concentrations 50 to 199 ng/L, lowering the diagnostic threshold was associated with increased healthcare resource use (P &#60; .05) that reduced recurrent myocardial infarction and death for patients with type 1 myocardial infarction (31% vs 20%; RR, 0.64; 95% CI, 0.41-0.99), but not type 2 myocardial infarction or myocardial injury (36% vs 33%; RR, 0.93; 95% CI, 0.75-1.15). Conclusions: After implementation of a sensitive troponin assay, the incidence of type 2 myocardial infarction or myocardial injury disproportionately increased and is now as frequent as type 1 myocardial infarction. Outcomes of patients with type 2 myocardial infarction or myocardial injury are poor and do not seem to be modifiable after reclassification despite substantial increases in healthcare resource use