An implementation of a reference symbol approach to generic modulation in fading channels

As mobile satellite communications systems evolve over the next decade, they will have to adapt to a changing tradeoff between bandwidth and power. This paper presents a flexible approach to digital modulation and coding that will accommodate both wideband and narrowband schemes. This architecture could be the basis for a family of modems, each satisfying a specific power and bandwidth constraint, yet all having a large number of common signal processing blocks. The implementation of this generic approach, with general purpose digital processors for transmission of 4.8 kilobits per sec. digitally encoded speech, is described

Supporting novel home network management interfaces with Openflow and NOX

The Homework project has examined redesign of existing home network infrastructures to better support the needs and requirements of actual home users. Integrating results from several ethnographic studies, we have designed and built a home networking platform providing detailed per-flow measurement and management capabilities supporting several novel management interfaces. This demo specifically shows these new visualization and control interfaces, and describes the broader benefits of taking an integrated view of the networking infrastructure, realised through our router's augmented measurement and control APIs. Aspects of this work have been published: the Homework Database in Internet Management (IM) 2011 and implications of the ethnographic results are to appear at the SIGCOMM W-MUST workshop 2011. Separate, more detailed expositions of the interface elements and system performance and implications are currently under submission at other venues. A partial code release is already available and we anticipate fuller public beta release by Q4 2011

Role of Cryptococcus neoformans Rho1 GTPases in the PKC1 signaling pathway in response to thermal stress

To initiate and establish infection in mammals, the opportunistic fungal pathogen Cryptococcus neoformans must survive and thrive upon subjection to host temperature. Primary maintenance of cell integrity is controlled through the protein kinase C1 (PKC1) signaling pathway, which is regulated by a Rho1 GTPase in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. We identified three C. neoformans Rho GTPases, Rho1, Rho10, and Rho11, and have begun to elucidate their role in growth and activation of the PKC1 pathway in response to thermal stress. Western blot analysis revealed that heat shock of wild-type cells resulted in phosphorylation of Mpk1 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK). Constitutive activation of Rho1 caused phosphorylation of Mpk1 independent of temperature, indicating its role in pathway regulation. A strain with a deletion of RHO10 also displayed this constitutive Mpk1 phosphorylation phenotype, while one with a deletion of RHO11 yielded phosphorylation similar to that of wild type. Surprisingly, like a rho10Δ strain, a strain with a deletion of both RHO10 and RHO11 displayed temperature sensitivity but mimicked wild-type phosphorylation, which suggests that Rho10 and Rho11 have coordinately regulated functions. Heat shock-induced Mpk1 phosphorylation also required the PKC1 pathway kinases Bck1 and Mkk2. However, Pkc1, thought to be the major regulatory kinase of the cell integrity pathway, was dispensable for this response. Together, our results argue that Rho proteins likely interact via downstream components of the PKC1 pathway or by alternative pathways to activate the cell integrity pathway in C. neoformans

Enabling the new economic actor: data protection, the digital economy, and the Databox

This paper offers a sociological perspective on data protection regulation and its relevance to design. From this perspective, proposed regulation in Europe and the USA seeks to create a new economic actor—the consumer as personal data trader—through new legal frameworks that shift the locus of agency and control in data processing towards the individual consumer or “data subject”. The sociological perspective on proposed data regulation recognises the reflexive relationship between law and the social order, and the commensurate needs to balance the demand for compliance with the design of computational tools that enable this new economic actor. We present the Databox model as a means of providing data protection and allowing the individual to exploit personal data to become an active player in the emerging data economy.The authors acknowledge the support of the EPSRC, Grants EP/M001636/1, EP/M02315X/1, EP/N028260/1, and EU FP7 Grant 611001.This is the final version of the article. It first appeared from [PUBLISHER] via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00779-016-0939-

The Sagnac Phase Shift suggested by the Aharonov-Bohm effect for relativistic matter beams

The phase shift due to the Sagnac Effect, for relativistic matter beams counter-propagating in a rotating interferometer, is deduced on the bases of a a formal analogy with the the Aharonov-Bohm effect. A procedure outlined by Sakurai, in which non relativistic quantum mechanics and newtonian physics appear together with some intrinsically relativistic elements, is generalized to a fully relativistic context, using the Cattaneo's splitting technique. This approach leads to an exact derivation, in a self-consistently relativistic way, of the Sagnac effect. Sakurai's result is recovered in the first order approximation.Comment: 18 pages, LaTeX, 2 EPS figures. To appear in General Relativity and Gravitatio

Breastfeeding and the risk of dental caries: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Aim To synthesise the current evidence for the associations between breastfeeding and dental caries, with respect to specific windows of early childhood caries risk. Methods Systematic review, meta-analyses and narrative synthesis following searches of PubMed, CINAHL and EMBASE databases. Results Sixty-three papers included. Children exposed to longer versus shorter duration of breastfeeding up to age 12 months (more versus less breastfeeding), had a reduced risk of caries (OR 0.50; 95%CI 0.25, 0.99, I2 86.8%). Children breastfed > 12 months had an increased riskof caries when compared with children breastfed 12 months, those fed nocturnally or more frequently had afurther increased caries risk (five studies, OR 7.14; 3.14, 16.23, I2 77.1%). There was a lack of studies on children aged > 12 months simultaneously assessing caries risk in breastfed, bottle-fed and children not bottle or breastfed, alongside specific breastfeeding practices, consuming sweet drinks and foods, and oral hygiene practices limiting our ability to tease out the risks attributable to each. Conclusion Breastfeeding in infancy may protect against dental caries. Further research needed to understand the increased risk of caries in children breastfed after 12 month

Perinatal Cat and Dog Exposure and the Risk of Asthma and Allergy in the Urban Environment: A Systematic Review of Longitudinal Studies

Background. The literature is contradictory concerning pet exposure and the risk of development of asthma and other allergic diseases. Using longitudinal studies, we aimed to systematically review the impact of pet ownership in the critical perinatal period as a risk factor for allergies in childhood. Methods. Medline database was searched for urban cohort studies with perinatal exposure to cats and/or dogs and subsequent asthma or allergic disease. Results. Nine articles, comprising 6498 participants, met inclusion criteria. Six found a reduction in allergic disease associated with perinatal exposure to dogs or, cats or dogs. One study found no association. Two found increased risk only in high-risk groups. Conclusion. Longitudinal studies in urban populations suggest that perinatal pets, especially dogs, may reduce the development of allergic disease in those without a family history of allergy. Other unmeasured factors such as pet-keeping choices in allergic families may be confounding the association seen in these high-risk families, and further study is required

The distribution of pond snail communities across a landscape: separating out the influence of spatial position from local habitat quality for ponds in south-east Northumberland, UK

Ponds support a rich biodiversity because the heterogeneity of individual ponds creates, at the landscape scale, a diversity of habitats for wildlife. The distribution of pond animals and plants will be influenced by both the local conditions within a pond and the spatial distribution of ponds across the landscape. Separating out the local from the spatial is difficult because the two are often linked. Pond snails are likely to be affected by both local conditions, e.g. water hardness, and spatial patterns, e.g. distance between ponds, but studies of snail communities struggle distinguishing between the two. In this study, communities of snails were recorded from 52 ponds in a biogeographically coherent landscape in north-east England. The distribution of snail communities was compared to local environments characterised by the macrophyte communities within each pond and to the spatial pattern of ponds throughout the landscape. Mantel tests were used to partial out the local versus the landscape respective influences. Snail communities became more similar in ponds that were closer together and in ponds with similar macrophyte communities as both the local and the landscape scale were important for this group of animals. Data were collected from several types of ponds, including those created on nature reserves specifically for wildlife, old field ponds (at least 150 years old) primarily created for watering livestock and subsidence ponds outside protected areas or amongst coastal dunes. No one pond type supported all the species. Larger, deeper ponds on nature reserves had the highest numbers of species within individual ponds but shallow, temporary sites on farm land supported a distinct temporary water fauna. The conservation of pond snails in this region requires a diversity of pond types rather than one idealised type and ponds scattered throughout the area at a variety of sites, not just concentrated on nature reserves

Reviews

The following publications have been reviewed by the mentioned authors;An Italic Calligraphy Handbook by Carolyn Knudsen Adams, reviewed by John LancasterDesign and British Industry by Richard Stewart, reviewed by John H. CarswellDesign Graphics by David Fair and Marilyn Kenny, reviewed by D. R. JonesGCSE Craft, Design and Technology by Richard Kimbell, John Plater and Tristram Shepard, reviewed by D. R. JonesProblem Solving in Science and Technology by David Rowlands, reviewed by Peter C. MillrayTechnical Drawing, An Usborne Guide by Susan Peach, reviewed by Keith VickersTVEI and Secondary Education: a critical appraisal by Denis Gleeson, reviewed by Martin MersonWorking in Design by the Careers and Occupational Information Centre, reviewed by S. J. Lodg

The Aminoalkylindole BML-190 Negatively Regulates Chitosan Synthesis via the Cyclic AMP/Protein Kinase A1 Pathway in Cryptococcus neoformans

Cryptococcus neoformans can cause fatal meningoencephalitis in patients with AIDS or other immunocompromising conditions. Current antifungals are suboptimal to treat this disease; therefore, novel targets and new therapies are needed. Previously, we have shown that chitosan is a critical component of the cryptococcal cell wall and is required for survival in the mammalian host and that chitosan deficiency results in rapid clearance from the mammalian host. We had also identified several specific proteins that were required for chitosan biosynthesis, and we hypothesize that screening for compounds that inhibit chitosan biosynthesis would identify additional genes/proteins that influence chitosan biosynthesis. To identify these compounds, we developed a robust and novel cell-based flow cytometry screening method to identify small-molecule inhibitors of chitosan production. We screened the ICCB Known Bioactives library and identified 8 compounds that reduced chitosan in C. neoformans We used flow cytometry-based counterscreens and confirmatory screens, followed by a biochemical secondary screen to refine our primary screening hits to 2 confirmed hits. One of the confirmed hits that reduced chitosan content was the aminoalkylindole BML-190, a known inverse agonist of mammalian cannabinoid receptors. We demonstrated that BML-190 likely targets the C. neoformans G-protein-coupled receptor Gpr4 and, via the cyclic AMP (cAMP)/protein kinase A (PKA) signaling pathway, contributes to an intracellular accumulation of cAMP that results in decreased chitosan. Our discovery suggests that this approach could be used to identify additional compounds and pathways that reduce chitosan biosynthesis and could lead to potential novel therapeutics against C. neoformans IMPORTANCE Cryptococcus neoformans is a fungal pathogen that kills approximately 200,000 people every year. The cell wall is an essential organelle that protects fungi from the environment. Chitosan, the deacetylated form of chitin, has been shown to be an essential component of the cryptococcal cell wall during infection of a mammalian host. In this study, we screened a set of 480 compounds, which are known to have defined biological activities, for activity that reduced chitosan production in C. neoformans Two of these compounds were confirmed using an alternative method of measuring chitosan, and one of these was demonstrated to impact the cAMP signal transduction pathway. This work demonstrates that the cAMP pathway regulates chitosan biosynthesis in C. neoformans and validates that this screening approach could be used to find potential antifungal agents