On the minimal penalty for Markov order estimation

We show that large-scale typicality of Markov sample paths implies that the likelihood ratio statistic satisfies a law of iterated logarithm uniformly to the same scale. As a consequence, the penalized likelihood Markov order estimator is strongly consistent for penalties growing as slowly as log log n when an upper bound is imposed on the order which may grow as rapidly as log n. Our method of proof, using techniques from empirical process theory, does not rely on the explicit expression for the maximum likelihood estimator in the Markov case and could therefore be applicable in other settings.Comment: 29 page

Estrogen dependent expression of the receptor tyrosine kinase axl in normal and malignant human breast

Summary Background: Axl, a member of a family of receptor tyrosine kinases characterized by an extracellular domain resembling cell adhesion molecules and an intracellular conserved tyrosine kinase domain has been reported to induce cell proliferation and transformation. In mice, axl is expressed in the normal mammary gland and over-expressed in aggressive mammary tumors. Patients and methods: We have investigated the expression of axl immunohistochemically in 23 normal human breast samples and in 111 consecutive breast carcinomas. Expression of axl was correlated with tumour characteristics (lymph node involvement, stage, grade) and immunohistochemical expression of ER, PR, Ki-67 and c-erbB-2. Results: In normal tissue, axl localizes to the membrane of breast epithelial cells. Axl protein shows membrane associated staining in high correlation (P = 0.004) with the expression of the estrogen receptor (ER). Axl expression was found in a subset of breast carcinomas and was also correlated with high significance (P < 0.0001) with the presence of ER. Conclusion: Our results suggest that axl may serve as a mediator of estrogen stimulation preventing the completion of the breast epithelial life cycle and that estrogen induced axl expression may give a survival signal to cancerous cells, preventing them from dying through apoptosi

Schwefelgehalte und Qualitätseigenschaften von Weizen aus biologisch-dynamischem und konventionellem Anbau

Für die Ergebnisse der vorliegenden Untersuchung wurden Winterweizenproben aus der biologisch-dynamische (23 Proben der Sorte Rektor, 8 Proben Bussard) und konventionellen Praxis (je 10 Proben der Sorten Rektor, Bussard und Astron) des Erntejahres 1996 untersucht. ► Der mittlere Rohproteingehalt der konventionellen Proben betrug 13,4%, was dem langjährigen Mittelwert entspricht. Die biologisch-dynamischen Proben deckten N-Gehalte zwischen 1,4 und 2,2% ab. Ihr mittlerer Rohproteingehalt betrug 9,8% und lag damit noch etwas niedriger als der Wert von 10,0% von Proben des Erntejahres 1995. ► Die biologisch-dynamischen Proben wiesen bedeutend niedrigere Schwefelgehalte (Mittelwert = 0,12%) als die konventionellen Proben auf (Mittelwert = 0,15%), was auf der teilweisen Abhängigkeit des Schwefel-Gehaltes (als Eiweißbestandteil) auch vom N-Gehalt beruht. Mit steigendem N-Gehalt des Korns stieg der S-Gehalt nur unterproportional an, was am größer werdenden Abstand der Wertesymbole zur Bildhalbierenden in Abbildung 1 ersichtlich ist. Besonders die eiweißreichen konventionellen Proben lagen dadurch im N:S-Verhältnis nahe an oder über dem S-Mangel anzeigenden Grenzwert von 17:1. Bei den biologisch-dynamischem Proben (Rektor und Bussard) zeigten sich wie beim Untersuchungsmaterial des Erntejahres 1995 zwei parallel zueinander liegende Punktwolken, die sich auch als Häufungsschwerpunkte (N:S = 13-<14 sowie 15-<16) in den N:S- Klassen zeigten. Dieses Phänomen war bei den Proben aus konventionellem Anbau nicht zu beobachten. Die mittleren N:S-Verhältnisse betrugen 14,1 (Biol.-Dyn.) bzw. 15,9 (Konv.)

β-Alanine Supplementation Has No Effect on Rowing Performance in College Age Athletes

Please view abstract in the attached PDF file

Emotional Impairment and Persistent Upregulation of mGlu5 Receptor following Morphine Abstinence: Implications of an mGlu5-MOPr Interaction.

BACKGROUND: A difficult problem in treating opioid addicts is the maintenance of a drug-free state because of the negative emotional symptoms associated with withdrawal, which may trigger relapse. Several lines of evidence suggest a role for the metabotropic glutamate receptor 5 in opioid addiction; however, its involvement during opioid withdrawal is not clear. METHODS: Mice were treated with a 7-day escalating-dose morphine administration paradigm. Following withdrawal, the development of affective behaviors was assessed using the 3-chambered box, open-field, elevated plus-maze and forced-swim tests. Metabotropic glutamate receptor 5 autoradiographic binding was performed in mouse brains undergoing chronic morphine treatment and 7 days withdrawal. Moreover, since there is evidence showing direct effects of opioid drugs on the metabotropic glutamate receptor 5 system, the presence of an metabotropic glutamate receptor 5/μ-opioid receptor interaction was assessed by performing metabotropic glutamate receptor 5 autoradiographic binding in brains of mice lacking the μ-opioid receptor gene. RESULTS: Withdrawal from chronic morphine administration induced anxiety-like, depressive-like, and impaired sociability behaviors concomitant with a marked upregulation of metabotropic glutamate receptor 5 binding. Administration of the metabotropic glutamate receptor 5 antagonist, 3-((2-Methyl-4-thiazolyl)ethynyl)pyridine, reversed morphine abstinence-induced depressive-like behaviors. A brain region-specific increase in metabotropic glutamate receptor 5 binding was observed in the nucleus accumbens shell, thalamus, hypothalamus, and amygdala of μ-opioid receptor knockout mice compared with controls. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest an association between metabotropic glutamate receptor 5 alterations and the emergence of opioid withdrawal-related affective behaviors. This study supports metabotropic glutamate receptor 5 system as a target for the development of pharmacotherapies for the treatment of opioid addiction. Moreover, our data show direct effects of μ-opioid receptor system manipulation on metabotropic glutamate receptor 5 binding in the brain

Characterization of [(3)H] oxymorphone binding sites in mouse brain: Quantitative autoradiography in opioid receptor knockout mice.

Oxymorphone, one of oxycodone's metabolic products, is a potent opioid receptor agonist which is thought to contribute to the analgesic effect of its parent compound and may have high potential abuse liability. Nonetheless, the in vivo pharmacological binding profile of this drug is still unclear. This study uses mice lacking mu (MOP), kappa (KOP) or delta (DOP) opioid receptors as well as mice lacking all three opioid receptors to provide full characterisation of oxymorphone binding sites in the brain. Saturation binding studies using [(3)H]oxymorphone revealed high affinity binding sites in mouse brain displaying Kd of 1.7nM and Bmax of 147fmol/mg. Furthermore, we performed quantitative autoradiography binding studies using [(3)H]oxymorphone in mouse brain. The distribution of [(3)H]oxymorphone binding sites was found to be similar to the selective MOP agonist [(3)H]DAMGO in the mouse brain. [(3)H]Oxymorphone binding was completely abolished across the majority of the brain regions in mice lacking MOP as well as in mice lacking all three opioid receptors. DOP and KOP knockout mice retained [(3)H]oxymorphone binding sites suggesting oxymorphone may not target DOP or KOP. These results confirm that the MOP, and not the DOP or the KOP is the main high affinity binding target for oxymorphone

Entropy and Quantum Kolmogorov Complexity: A Quantum Brudno's Theorem

In classical information theory, entropy rate and Kolmogorov complexity per symbol are related by a theorem of Brudno. In this paper, we prove a quantum version of this theorem, connecting the von Neumann entropy rate and two notions of quantum Kolmogorov complexity, both based on the shortest qubit descriptions of qubit strings that, run by a universal quantum Turing machine, reproduce them as outputs.Comment: 26 pages, no figures. Reference to publication added: published in the Communications in Mathematical Physics (http://www.springerlink.com/content/1432-0916/

Spatially resolved X-ray excited optical luminescence

Spatially resolved luminescence distributions in semiconductor heterostructures were investigated by core level excitation using hard X-ray (sub-) microbeams. Compact and mobile XEOL instruments have been developed and well adapted on the hard X-ray beamline ID22 of the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility for different wavelength collection ranges: UV-VIS and NIR. Linked by multimode optical fibers, their special designs provide precise scanning microscopy and allow easy access for multiple detection modes. Based on the hard X-ray microprobe station of ID22, details of the equipments, spectral data and representative examples are briefly described. Data collections from InAs and InGaN quantum heterostructures support the excellent performance of the optical devices. © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.This work was partially supported by the NANOWIRING Marie Curie ITN (EU project No. PITN-GA-2010-265073).Peer Reviewe

Analysis of some physical-chemical and biological water parameters in two thermal seasons at Ensenada stream, Diamante, Entre Ríos

Las aguas superficiales continentales son fácilmente contaminadas por lo que es conveniente conocer su estado ambiental para detectar las agresiones al sistema y brindar conocimiento para su preservación. El río Paraná, uno de los principales componentes del la Cuenca del Plata, recibe los aportes de numerosos ríos y arroyos a lo largo de su curso. En su tramo medio, y sobre la margen izquierda, desemboca el arroyo de la Ensenada ubicado en el Departamento Diamante de la provincia de Entre Ríos. Este trabajo tiene como objetivo ampliar la información acerca del estado de las aguas de la cuenca del citado arroyo para lo que se realizaron muestreos en dos estaciones del año 2010 con marcadas diferencias térmicas. Se efectuaron muestreos en nueve sitios del curso y tributarios, y se analizaron las muestras, por métodos estandarizados, en sus parámetros físicos-químicos y microbiológicos. Los resultados mostraron que los parámetros físico-químicos como pH, CE y clorofila “a” se encuentran en rangos comparable con otros cursos de la región, no así el fosforo que muestra altos valores en su curso principal, lo que señala los efectos de las actividades antrópicas en la cuenca. Los altos valores de recuento en coliformes totales y termotolerantes, que mayormente fueron encontrados en los tributarios, superan los límites establecidos para aguas recreativas. El análisis de conglomerados aplicado al conjunto de parámetros físico-químicos mostró la formación de cinco clúster en las dos estaciones climáticas, destacándose el conformado por dos tributarios que se caracterizaron por presentar altos contenidos de fósforo. El análisis de la comunidad de cianobacterias mostró la presencia de Microcystis capaz de afectar la calidad recreacional y de consumo del agua, con valores no significativos de cianotoxinas.Inland surface waters are easily contaminated so it is convenient to know the environmental status to detect aggression and provide knowledge for preservation. The Parana River, one of the main components of the River Plate Basin, receives input from numerous rivers and streams along its course. In the Medium Paraná River on its left margin, the Ensenada stream ends, located in the Diamante Department, province of Entre Ríos. This work objective is to increase the information about the status of the waters of the stream basin considering samples obtained during two well differentiated thermal seasons in 2010. Samplings were made in nine sites of the course and tributary streams and were analyzed by standard methods, in their physical-chemical and microbiological parameters. The results show that the physical-chemical parameters such as pH, EC and chlorophyll "a" are in ranges comparable with other courses in the region, but not with phosphorus in the main course, with higher values showing the effects of human activities in the basin. The high values of total coliform count as well as thermotolerants, mostly found in the tributaries, exceed the limits for recreational waters. Cluster analysis applied to the set of physical-chemical parameters showed the formation of five clusters in two seasons, with the forming of two tributaries that were characterized by high contents of phosphorus. The analysis of cyanobacteria showed presence of Microcystis genus that can affect the quality of recreational and consumption water, with non significant values of cyanotoxins.Fil: Vivot, Eduardo Pedro. Universidad Nacional de Entre Rios; ArgentinaFil: Sanchez, Cecilia I.. Universidad Nacional de Entre Rios; ArgentinaFil: Kieffer, Luis Alfredo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Santa Fe. Instituto de Desarrollo Tecnológico para la Industria Química. Universidad Nacional del Litoral. Instituto de Desarrollo Tecnológico para la Industria Química; ArgentinaFil: Prosperi, Carlos Hugo. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba; ArgentinaFil: Gieco, Adriana M.. Universidad Nacional de Entre Rios; ArgentinaFil: Dragan, Analía N.. Universidad Nacional de Entre Rios; ArgentinaFil: Ormaechea, María V.. Universidad Nacional de Entre Rios; ArgentinaFil: de la Sierra, Patricia Monica. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Santa Fe. Instituto de Desarrollo Tecnológico para la Industria Química. Universidad Nacional del Litoral. Instituto de Desarrollo Tecnológico para la Industria Química; ArgentinaFil: Guerra, Elio W.. Universidad Nacional de Entre Rios; Argentin