Fast Algorithm for Partial Covers in Words

A factor $u$ of a word $w$ is a cover of $w$ if every position in $w$ lies within some occurrence of $u$ in $w$. A word $w$ covered by $u$ thus generalizes the idea of a repetition, that is, a word composed of exact concatenations of $u$. In this article we introduce a new notion of $\alpha$-partial cover, which can be viewed as a relaxed variant of cover, that is, a factor covering at least $\alpha$ positions in $w$. We develop a data structure of $O(n)$ size (where $n=|w|$) that can be constructed in $O(n\log n)$ time which we apply to compute all shortest $\alpha$-partial covers for a given $\alpha$. We also employ it for an $O(n\log n)$-time algorithm computing a shortest $\alpha$-partial cover for each $\alpha=1,2,\ldots,n$

The reaction of cytochrome c with [Fe(EDTA)(H2O)]−

AbstractThe interaction of horse ferricytochrome c with the reagents [Fe(EDTA)(H2O)]− and [Cr(CN)6]3− were studied at pH 7 and 25°C by 1H-NMR spectroscopy. Two binding regions near to the heme crevice of cytochrome c were identified. Both regions bound both reagents but they exhibited different selectivities.The relevance of this finding to the electron-transfer function of cytochrome c is discussed

Clinical investigation of an outbreak of alveolitis and asthma in a car engine manufacturing plant

Background Exposure to metal working fluid (MWF) has been associated with outbreaks of EAA in the US, with bacterial contamination of MWF being a possible cause, but was uncommon in the UK. Twelve workers developed extrinsic allergic alveolitis (EAA) in a car engine manufacturing plant in the UK, presenting clinically between December 2003 and May 2004. This paper reports the subsequent epidemiological investigation of the whole workforce. This had three aims:- • To measure the extent of the outbreak by identifying other workers who may have developed EAA or other work-related respiratory diseases. • To provide case-detection so that those affected can be treated. • To provide epidemiological data to identify the cause of the outbreak. Methods The outbreak was investigated in a three-phase cross-sectional survey of the workforce. Phase I A respiratory screening questionnaire was completed by 808/836 workers (96.7%) in May 2004. Phase II 481 employees with at least one respiratory symptom on screening and 50 asymptomatic controls were invited for investigation at the factory in June 2004. This included a questionnaire, spirometry and clinical opinion. 454/481(94.4%) responded along with 48/50(96%) controls. Workers were identified who needed further investigation and serial measurements of peak expiratory flow (PEF). Phase III 162 employees were seen at the Birmingham Occupational Lung Disease clinic. 198 employees returned PEF records, including 141 of the 162 who attended for clinical investigation. Case definitions for diagnoses were agreed. Results 87 workers (10.4% of workforce) met case definitions for occupational lung disease, comprising EAA(19), occupational asthma(74) and humidifier fever(7). 12 workers had more than one diagnosis. The peak onset of work-related breathlessness was Spring 2003. The proportion of workers affected was higher for those using metal working fluid (MWF) from a large sump(27.3%) compared with working all over the manufacturing area (7.9%) (OR=4.39,p<0.001). Two workers had positive specific provocation tests to the used but not the unused MWF solution. Conclusions Extensive investigation of the outbreak of EAA detected a large number of affected workers, not only with EAA but also occupational asthma. This is the largest reported outbreak in Europe. Mist from used MWF is the likely cause. In workplaces using MWF, there is a need to carry out risk assessments, to monitor and maintain fluid quality, to control mist and to carry out respiratory health surveillance

On a computer-aided approach to the computation of Abelian integrals

An accurate method to compute enclosures of Abelian integrals is developed. This allows for an accurate description of the phase portraits of planar polynomial systems that are perturbations of Hamiltonian systems. As an example, it is applied to the study of bifurcations of limit cycles arising from a cubic perturbation of an elliptic Hamiltonian of degree four

Interactions of dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine with ceramide-based mixtures

Supramolecular & Biomaterials Chemistr

Molecular Study of Interactions between Hematopoietic Stem Cells and Stromal Cells

Multipotent hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) are progenitors of all types of hematopoietic cells, and the efficient isolation and propagation of HSCs will significantly enhance our ability to manage many human disorders with bone marrow transplantation, stem cell transplantation and gene therapy. We employed "Signal Sequence Trap (SST)" method with yeast invertase to clone proteins on the surface of or secreted by stromal cells that enhance or inhibit the propagation of HSC’s in culture. AFT024, a mouse fetal liver stromal cell line that maintains stem cell activity in long-term culture, was subjected to SST analysis. We identified more than 60 signal sequences or transmembrane domain containing genes expressed by AFT024 cells. We compared their expression levels between AFT024 cells and BFC012 cells, a mouse fetal liver stromal cell line that was developed in the same way as for AFT024 cells but could not support HSC in long-term culture. Pleiotrophin, T16, Sca-1, deltalike and cytokine receptor like-1(CLF-1) are expressed significantly higher in AFT024 cells than in BFC012 cells. We recently employed Affymatrix genechip technology to study the interaction of HSCs and their microenvironment. In genechip experiments, Sca-1, deltalike, pleiotrophin and CLF-1 are among the most differentially expressed genes between AFT024 and BFC012 cells, while T16 was not represented on the chip. In addition, osteopontin, pigment epithelium-derived factor, proliferins, activin subunit, CXC chemokines GRO1 and LIX are more abundant in AFT024 cells than in BFC012 cells. Genechip technology was also applied to bone marrow stromal cell lines, including MS5, S17 and OP9 cells. Two murine multipotent hematopoietic cell lines, FDCP.mix and EML cells, were also analyzed. Data from these experiments are presented.Singapore-MIT Alliance (SMA

Universal Continuous Variable Quantum Computation in the Micromaser

We present universal continuous variable quantum computation (CVQC) in the micromaser. With a brief history as motivation we present the background theory and define universal CVQC. We then show how to generate a set of operations in the micromaser which can be used to achieve universal CVQC. It then follows that the micromaser is a potential architecture for CVQC but our proof is easily adaptable to other potential physical systems.Comment: 12 pages, 4 figures, accepted for a presentation at the 9th International Conference on Unconventional Computation (UC10) and LNCS proceedings

Entangling Two Bose-Einstein Condensates by Stimulated Bragg Scattering

We propose an experiment for entangling two spatially separated Bose-Einstein condensates by Bragg scattering of light. When Bragg scattering in two condensates is stimulated by a common probe, the resulting quasiparticles in the two condensates get entangled due to quantum communication between the condensates via probe beam. The entanglement is shown to be significant and occurs in both number and quadrature phase variables. We present two methods of detecting the generated entanglement.Comment: 4 pages, Revte

Dark Matter signals from Draco and Willman 1: Prospects for MAGIC II and CTA

The next generation of ground-based Imaging Air Cherenkov Telescopes (IACTs) will play an important role in indirect dark matter searches. In this article, we consider two particularly promising candidate sources for dark matter annihilation signals, the nearby dwarf galaxies Draco and Willman 1, and study the prospects of detecting such a signal for the soon-operating MAGIC II telescope system as well as for the planned installation of CTA, taking special care of describing the experimental features that affect the detectional prospects. For the first time in such a study, we fully take into account the effect of internal bremsstrahlung, which has recently been shown to considerably enhance, in some cases, the gamma-ray flux at the high energies where Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescopes operate, thus leading to significantly harder annihilation spectra than traditionally considered. While the detection of the spectral features introduced by internal bremsstrahlung would constitute a smoking gun signature for dark matter annihilation, we find that for most models the overall flux still remains at a level that will be challenging to detect unless one adopts rather (though by no means overly) optimistic astrophysical assumptions about the distribution of dark matter in the dwarfs.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures, minor changes, matches the published version (JCAP