Content aggregation, visualization and emergent properties in computer simulations

With the rapidly growing amounts of information, visualization is becoming increasingly important, as it allows users to easily explore and understand large amounts of information. However the field of information visualiza- tion currently lacks sufficient theoretical foundations. This article addresses foundational questions connecting information visualization with computing and philosophy studies. The idea of multiscale information granula- tion is described based on two fundamental concepts: information (structure) and computation (process). A new information processing paradigm of Granular Computing enables stepwise increase of granulation/aggregation of information on different levels of resolution, which makes possible dynamical viewing of data. Information produced by Google Earth is an illustration of visualization based on clustering (granulation) of information on a succession of layers. Depending on level, specific emergent properties become visible as a result of different ways of aggregation of data/information. As information visualization ultimately aims at amplifying cognition, we discuss the process of simulation and emulation in relation to cognition, and in particular visual cognition

C-reactive protein monitoring in children with acute asthma

Cilj: Ispitati može li se određivanje koncentracije hsCRP (high sensitivity C-reactive protein) primijeniti kao biomarker u praćenju uspješnosti terapije akutne egzacerbacije astme u djece. Ispitanici i metode: U ispitivanje je uključeno 28-ero djece kontrolne skupine i 27-ero djece hospitalizirane zbog liječenja akutnog napadaja astme. Liječenje akutne egzacerbacije provedeno je kontinuiranom inhalacijom 2-agonista brzog djelovanja te primjenom inghalacijskih kortikosteroida. Za određivanje hsCRP uzorkovani su serumi bolesnika prije terapije i tri dana nakon terapije. Koncentracija hsCRP određena je imunoturbidimetrijskom metodom na lateks česticama na biokemijskom analizatoru AU400. Rezultati: Koncentracija hsCRP bila je statistički značajno veća u djece s astmom (prije terapije: 3,00 ± 1,92 mg/l; tri dana nakon terapije: 0,80 ± 0,61 mg/l) nego u djece kontrolne skupine (0,36 ± 0,21 mg/l). Zaključak: Rezultati ovog istraživanja ukazuju na to da bi hsCRP mogao biti nespecifičan biomarker za praćenje upale u djece s akutnom egzacerbacijom astme. Međutim, potrebna su nova istraživanja koja bi utvrdila korelaciju između specifičnih i nespecifičnih biomarkera upale u astmi.Aim: To assess whether the determination of high sensitive C-reactive protein (hsCRP) could bi used as biomarker of successful drug administration in children with asthma exacerbation. Subjects and methods: The study included 28 control children and 27 pediatric asthmatics who were hospitalized for treatment of asthma exacerbation. All patients were treated with continuous inhalations of short acting 2-agonists and inhaled corticosteroids administration. A pair of routine serum samples (one taken before and one three days after drug administration) were taken for hsCRP determination. The concentration of hsCRP was determined by the immunoturbidimetric method on latex particles on an Olympus AU400 biochemistry analyzer. Results: The concentration of hsCRP was statistically significantly higher in children with asthma (before drug administration: 3.00 ± 1.92 mg/L; three days after drug administration: 0.80 ± 0.61 mg/L) than in healthy children (0.36 ± 0.21 mg/L). Conclusion: Study results suggest that hsCRP could have the potential as a nonspecific biomarker for monitoring inflammation in children with asthma exacerbation. Further research is are needed to find the correlation between specific and nonspecific biomarkers of inflammation in asthma

Modeling Life as Cognitive Info-Computation

This article presents a naturalist approach to cognition understood as a network of info-computational, autopoietic processes in living systems. It provides a conceptual framework for the unified view of cognition as evolved from the simplest to the most complex organisms, based on new empirical and theoretical results. It addresses three fundamental questions: what cognition is, how cognition works and what cognition does at different levels of complexity of living organisms. By explicating the info-computational character of cognition, its evolution, agent-dependency and generative mechanisms we can better understand its life-sustaining and life-propagating role. The info-computational approach contributes to rethinking cognition as a process of natural computation in living beings that can be applied for cognitive computation in artificial systems.Comment: Manuscript submitted to Computability in Europe CiE 201

Alpha decay and proton-neutron correlations

We study the influence of proton-neutron (p-n) correlations on alpha-decay width. It is shown from the analysis of alpha Q values that the p-n correlations increase the penetration of the alpha particle through the Coulomb barrier in the treatment following Gamow's formalism, and enlarges the total alpha-decay width significantly. In particular, the isoscalar p-n interactions play an essential role in enlarging the alpha-decay width. The so-called "alpha-condensate" in Z > 84 isotopes are related to the strong p-n correlations.Comment: 5 pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. C (R.C.

Alcoholism and Depression

Alcoholism and depression are entangled in many ways and appear in many combinations. In spite of this fact, to this problem is rarely given sufficient attention which results in poor diagnostic and inadequate therapeutic approach with all the consequences this engenders. The frequency of depression in alcoholics is investigated here with the object of finding out to what extent it can be successfully diagnosed and medically treated. The research was carried out in the Psychiatric Clinic of the Clinical Hospital »Split« and the sample of examinees included the patients treated in the stationary part of the Clinic and in the daily hospital

Shell model on a random gaussian basis

Pauli-projected random gaussians are used as a representation to solve the shell model equations. The elements of the representation are chosen by a variational procedure. This scheme is particularly suited to describe cluster formation and cluster decay in nuclei. It overcomes the basis-size problem of the ordinary shell model and the technical difficulties of the cluster-configuration shell model. The model reproduces the $\alpha$-decay width of $^{212}$Po satisfactorily.Comment: Latex, Submitted to Phys. Lett. B, 7 pages, 2 figures available upon request, ATOMKI-1994-

Dissecting a wheat QTL for yield present in a range of environments: from the QTL to candidate genes

Previous studies with 95 bread wheat doubled haploid lines (DHLs) from the cross Chinese Spring (CS)xSQ1 trialled over 24 yearxtreatmentxlocations identified major yield quantitative trait loci (QTLs) in homoeologous locations on 7AL and 7BL, expressed mainly under stressed and non-stressed conditions, respectively. SQ1 and CS contributed alleles increasing yield on 7AL and 7BL, respectively. The yield component most strongly associated with these QTLs was grains per ear. Additional results which focus on the 7AL yield QTL are presented here. Trials monitoring agronomic, morphological, physiological, and anatomical traits revealed that the 7AL yield QTL was not associated with differences in flowering time or plant height, but with significant differences in biomass at maturity and anthesis, biomass per tiller, and biomass during tillering. In some trials, flag leaf chlorophyll content and leaf width at tillering were also associated with the QTL. Thus, it is likely that the yield gene(s) on 7AL affects plant productivity. Near-isogenic lines (NILs) for the 7AL yield QTL with CS or SQ1 alleles in an SQ1 BACKGROUND: showed the SQ1 allele to be associated with > 20% higher yield per ear, significantly higher flag leaf chlorophyll content, and wider flag leaves. Epidermal cell width and distance between leaf vascular bundles did not differ significantly between NILs, so the yield-associated gene may influence the number of cell files across the leaf through effects on cell division. Interestingly, comparative mapping with rice identified AINTEGUMENTA and G-protein subunit genes affecting lateral cell division at locations homologous to the wheat 7AL yield QTL