Fractal Image Editing with PhotoFrac

In this paper, we describe the development and use of PhotoFrac, an application that allows artists and designers to turn digital images into fractal patterns interactively. Fractal equations are a rich source of procedural texture and detail, but controlling the patterns and incorporating traditional media has been difficult. Additionally, the iterative nature of fractal calculations makes implementation of interactive techniques on mobile devices and web apps challenging. We overcome these problems by using an image coordinate based orbit trapping technique that permits a user-selected image to be embedded into the fractal. Performance challenges are addressed by exploiting the processing power of graphic processing unit (GPU) and precomputing some intermediate results for use on mobile devices. This paper presents results and qualitative analyses of the tool by four artists (the authors) who used the PhotoFrac application to create new artworks from original digital images. The final results demonstrate a fusion of traditional media with algorithmic art

A genetic linkage map and comparative mapping of the prairie vole (Microtus ochrogaster) genome

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The prairie vole (<it>Microtus ochrogaster</it>) is an emerging rodent model for investigating the genetics, evolution and molecular mechanisms of social behavior. Though a karyotype for the prairie vole has been reported and low-resolution comparative cytogenetic analyses have been done in this species, other basic genetic resources for this species, such as a genetic linkage map, are lacking.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Here we report the construction of a genome-wide linkage map of the prairie vole. The linkage map consists of 406 markers that are spaced on average every 7 Mb and span an estimated ~90% of the genome. The sex average length of the linkage map is 1707 cM, which, like other Muroid rodent linkage maps, is on the lower end of the length distribution of linkage maps reported to date for placental mammals. Linkage groups were assigned to 19 out of the 26 prairie vole autosomes as well as the X chromosome. Comparative analyses of the prairie vole linkage map based on the location of 387 Type I markers identified 61 large blocks of synteny with the mouse genome. In addition, the results of the comparative analyses revealed a potential elevated rate of inversions in the prairie vole lineage compared to the laboratory mouse and rat.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>A genetic linkage map of the prairie vole has been constructed and represents the fourth genome-wide high-resolution linkage map reported for Muroid rodents and the first for a member of the Arvicolinae sub-family. This resource will advance studies designed to dissect the genetic basis of a variety of social behaviors and other traits in the prairie vole as well as our understanding of genome evolution in the genus <it>Microtus</it>.</p

Astaxanthin is responsible for the pink plumage flush of Franklins and Ring-billed gulls

ABSTRACT. Carotenoid pigments produce the red, orange, and yellow plumage of many birds. Carotenoidcontaining feathers are typically rich in color and displayed by all adult members of the species. In many gulls and terns, however, an unusual light pink coloring (or flush) to the normally white plumage can be found in highly variable proportions within and across populations. The carotenoid basis of plumage flush was determined in an Elegant Tern (Sterna elegans; Hudon and Brush 1990), but it is not clear if all larids use this same mechanism for pink plumage coloration. We examined the carotenoid content of pink feathers in Franklin&apos;s (Larus pipixcan) and Ring-billed (Larus delawarensis) gulls and found that a single carotenoid-astaxanthin-was present. Astaxanthin was primarily responsible for the flush in Elegant Terns as well, but was accompanied by other carotenoids (e.g., canthaxanthin and zeaxanthin), as is typical of most astaxanthin-containing bird feathers. In both gull and tern species, carotenoids were contained within feathers and did not occur on the plumage surface in preen oil, as some have previously speculated. We hypothesize that some gulls turn pink because they acquire unusually high amounts of astaxanthin in their diets at the time of feather growth. It is tempting to link the increase in sightings of pink Ringbilled Gulls since the late 1990s with the introduction of pure, synthetic astaxanthin to the diets of hatchery-raised salmon. SINOPSIS. Astaxantina, responsible del plumaje Rosado en Larus pixpican y Larus delawarensis Los pigmentos carotenoides son los responsables de la coloración roja, anaranjada y amarilla en el plumaje de aves. Plumas que contienen carotenoides, generalmente son ricas en color y son mostradas en variados patrones de conducta por los adultos con dicha coloración. No obstante, en muchas gaviotas se puede observar una coloración rosada, en vez del típico plumaje blanco y su proporción puede ser variable en una o entre poblaciones. La presencia de carotenoides, y plumaje rosado, fue documentado en Sterna elegans, pero no quedo claro, si el mismo tipo de mecanismo aplica a otros laridos. Examinamos el contenido carotenoides en plumas rosadas de las gaviotas, Larus pixpican y L. delawarensis, y encontramos que la presencia de astaxantina. Este mismo carotenoide fue el principal responsable de la coloración rosada en Sterna elegans, sin embargo estuvo acompañado de otros carotenoides (ej. cantaxantina y seazantina). En las diferentes gaviotas estudiadas se encontró que los carotenoides se encontraban dentro de la pluma y no presentes en la superficie de estas o en el aceite de la glándula uropigial, como se había previamente especulado. Nuestra hipótesis es que algunas gaviotas adquieren un plumaje rosado a consecuencia de la dieta ingerida durante el periodo de crecimiento de las plumas. Es tentador tratar de atar el color rosado en gaviotas como L. delawarensis a partir del 1990 con la introducción de astaxantina sintética en la dieta de salmones criados en cautiverio

Development of genomic resources for the prairie vole (Microtus ochrogaster): construction of a BAC library and vole-mouse comparative cytogenetic map

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The prairie vole (<it>Microtus ochrogaster</it>) is a premier animal model for understanding the genetic and neurological basis of social behaviors. Unlike other biomedical models, prairie voles display a rich repertoire of social behaviors including the formation of long-term pair bonds and biparental care. However, due to a lack of genomic resources for this species, studies have been limited to a handful of candidate genes. To provide a substrate for future development of genomic resources for this unique model organism, we report the construction and characterization of a bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) library from a single male prairie vole and a prairie vole-mouse (<it>Mus musculus</it>) comparative cytogenetic map.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We constructed a prairie vole BAC library (CHORI-232) consisting of 194,267 recombinant clones with an average insert size of 139 kb. Hybridization-based screening of the gridded library at 19 loci established that the library has an average depth of coverage of ~10×. To obtain a small-scale sampling of the prairie vole genome, we generated 3884 BAC end-sequences totaling ~2.8 Mb. One-third of these BAC-end sequences could be mapped to unique locations in the mouse genome, thereby anchoring 1003 prairie vole BAC clones to an orthologous position in the mouse genome. Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) mapping of 62 prairie vole clones with BAC-end sequences mapping to orthologous positions in the mouse genome was used to develop a first-generation genome-wide prairie vole-mouse comparative cytogenetic map. While conserved synteny was observed between this pair of rodent genomes, rearrangements between the prairie vole and mouse genomes were detected, including a minimum of five inversions and 16 inter-chromosomal rearrangements.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The construction of the prairie vole BAC library and the vole-mouse comparative cytogenetic map represent the first genome-wide modern genomic resources developed for this species. The BAC library will support future genomic, genetic and molecular characterization of this genome and species, and the isolation of clones of high interest to the vole research community will allow for immediate characterization of the regulatory and coding sequences of genes known to play important roles in social behaviors. In addition, these resources provide an excellent platform for future higher resolution cytogenetic mapping and full genome sequencing.</p

Toward an integrative understanding of social behavior: new models and new opportunities.

Social interactions among conspecifics are a fundamental and adaptively significant component of the biology of numerous species. Such interactions give rise to group living as well as many of the complex forms of cooperation and conflict that occur within animal groups. Although previous conceptual models have focused on the ecological causes and fitness consequences of variation in social interactions, recent developments in endocrinology, neuroscience, and molecular genetics offer exciting opportunities to develop more integrated research programs that will facilitate new insights into the physiological causes and consequences of social variation. Here, we propose an integrative framework of social behavior that emphasizes relationships between ultimate-level function and proximate-level mechanism, thereby providing a foundation for exploring the full diversity of factors that underlie variation in social interactions, and ultimately sociality. In addition to identifying new model systems for the study of human psychopathologies, this framework provides a mechanistic basis for predicting how social behavior will change in response to environmental variation. We argue that the study of non-model organisms is essential for implementing this integrative model of social behavior because such species can be studied simultaneously in the lab and field, thereby allowing integration of rigorously controlled experimental manipulations with detailed observations of the ecological contexts in which interactions among conspecifics occur

BAC-Based Sequencing of Behaviorally-Relevant Genes in the Prairie Vole

The prairie vole (Microtus ochrogaster) is an important model organism for the study of social behavior, yet our ability to correlate genes and behavior in this species has been limited due to a lack of genetic and genomic resources. Here we report the BAC-based targeted sequencing of behaviorally-relevant genes and flanking regions in the prairie vole. A total of 6.4 Mb of non-redundant or haplotype-specific sequence assemblies were generated that span the partial or complete sequence of 21 behaviorally-relevant genes as well as an additional 55 flanking genes. Estimates of nucleotide diversity from 13 loci based on alignments of 1.7 Mb of haplotype-specific assemblies revealed an average pair-wise heterozygosity (8.4×10−3). Comparative analyses of the prairie vole proteins encoded by the behaviorally-relevant genes identified >100 substitutions specific to the prairie vole lineage. Finally, our sequencing data indicate that a duplication of the prairie vole AVPR1A locus likely originated from a recent segmental duplication spanning a minimum of 105 kb. In summary, the results of our study provide the genomic resources necessary for the molecular and genetic characterization of a high-priority set of candidate genes for regulating social behavior in the prairie vole

15th Annual Legal Issues for Financial Institutions Conference

Program and materials from the 15th Annual Legal Issues for Financial Institutions Conference held by UK/CLE on March 10-11, 1995

Existential Loneliness and end-of-life care: A Systematic Review

Contains fulltext : 88662.pdf (publisher's version ) (Closed access)Patients with a life-threatening illness can be confronted with various types of loneliness, one of which is existential loneliness (EL). Since the experience of EL is extremely disruptive, the issue of EL is relevant for the practice of end-of-life care. Still, the literature on EL has generated little discussion and empirical substantiation and has never been systematically reviewed. In order to systematically review the literature, we (1) identified the existential loneliness literature; (2) established an organising framework for the review; (3) conducted a conceptual analysis of existential loneliness; and (4) discussed its relevance for end-of-life care. We found that the EL concept is profoundly unclear. Distinguishing between three dimensions of EL-as a condition, as an experience, and as a process of inner growth-leads to some conceptual clarification. Analysis of these dimensions on the basis of their respective key notions-everpresent, feeling, defence; death, awareness, difficult communication; and inner growth, giving meaning, authenticity-further clarifies the concept. Although none of the key notions are unambiguous, they may function as a starting point for the development of care strategies on EL at the end of life.1 april 201

Pan-Cancer Analysis of lncRNA Regulation Supports Their Targeting of Cancer Genes in Each Tumor Context

Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are commonly dys-regulated in tumors, but only a handful are known toplay pathophysiological roles in cancer. We inferredlncRNAs that dysregulate cancer pathways, onco-genes, and tumor suppressors (cancer genes) bymodeling their effects on the activity of transcriptionfactors, RNA-binding proteins, and microRNAs in5,185 TCGA tumors and 1,019 ENCODE assays.Our predictions included hundreds of candidateonco- and tumor-suppressor lncRNAs (cancerlncRNAs) whose somatic alterations account for thedysregulation of dozens of cancer genes and path-ways in each of 14 tumor contexts. To demonstrateproof of concept, we showed that perturbations tar-geting OIP5-AS1 (an inferred tumor suppressor) andTUG1 and WT1-AS (inferred onco-lncRNAs) dysre-gulated cancer genes and altered proliferation ofbreast and gynecologic cancer cells. Our analysis in-dicates that, although most lncRNAs are dysregu-lated in a tumor-specific manner, some, includingOIP5-AS1, TUG1, NEAT1, MEG3, and TSIX, synergis-tically dysregulate cancer pathways in multiple tumorcontexts

Pan-cancer Alterations of the MYC Oncogene and Its Proximal Network across the Cancer Genome Atlas

Although theMYConcogene has been implicated incancer, a systematic assessment of alterations ofMYC, related transcription factors, and co-regulatoryproteins, forming the proximal MYC network (PMN),across human cancers is lacking. Using computa-tional approaches, we define genomic and proteo-mic features associated with MYC and the PMNacross the 33 cancers of The Cancer Genome Atlas.Pan-cancer, 28% of all samples had at least one ofthe MYC paralogs amplified. In contrast, the MYCantagonists MGA and MNT were the most frequentlymutated or deleted members, proposing a roleas tumor suppressors.MYCalterations were mutu-ally exclusive withPIK3CA,PTEN,APC,orBRAFalterations, suggesting that MYC is a distinct onco-genic driver. Expression analysis revealed MYC-associated pathways in tumor subtypes, such asimmune response and growth factor signaling; chro-matin, translation, and DNA replication/repair wereconserved pan-cancer. This analysis reveals insightsinto MYC biology and is a reference for biomarkersand therapeutics for cancers with alterations ofMYC or the PMN