Minor Loops in Major Folds: Enhancer-Promoter Looping, Chromatin Restructuring, and Their Association with Transcriptional Regulation and Disease.

The organization and folding of chromatin within the nucleus can determine the outcome of gene expression. Recent technological advancements have enabled us to study chromatin interactions in a genome-wide manner at high resolution. These studies have increased our understanding of the hierarchy and dynamics of chromatin domains that facilitate cognate enhancer-promoter looping, defining the transcriptional program of different cell types. In this review, we focus on vertebrate chromatin long-range interactions as they relate to transcriptional regulation. In addition, we describe how the alteration of boundaries that mark discrete regions in the genome with high interaction frequencies within them, called topological associated domains (TADs), could lead to various phenotypes, including human diseases, which we term as "TADopathies.

Gruss inequality for some types of positive linear maps

Assuming a unitarily invariant norm $|||\cdot|||$ is given on a two-sided ideal of bounded linear operators acting on a separable Hilbert space, it induces some unitarily invariant norms $|||\cdot|||$ on matrix algebras $\mathcal{M}_n$ for all finite values of $n$ via $|||A|||=|||A\oplus 0|||$. We show that if $\mathscr{A}$ is a $C^*$-algebra of finite dimension $k$ and $\Phi: \mathscr{A} \to \mathcal{M}_n$ is a unital completely positive map, then \begin{equation*} |||\Phi(AB)-\Phi(A)\Phi(B)||| \leq \frac{1}{4} |||I_{n}|||\,|||I_{kn}||| d_A d_B \end{equation*} for any $A,B \in \mathscr{A}$, where $d_X$ denotes the diameter of the unitary orbit \{UXU^*: U \mbox{ is unitary}\} of $X$ and $I_{m}$ stands for the identity of $\mathcal{M}_{m}$. Further we get an analogous inequality for certain $n$-positive maps in the setting of full matrix algebras by using some matrix tricks. We also give a Gr\"uss operator inequality in the setting of $C^*$-algebras of arbitrary dimension and apply it to some inequalities involving continuous fields of operators.Comment: 17 pages, to appear in J. Operator Theory (JOT

Laterally unrestrained bearing strength of hot-wet conditioned pultruded FRP material

Presented in this paper are test results of a study pertaining to the reduction in bearing strength due to the effect of hot-wet conditioning on specimens cut from a polyester matrix based pultruded FRP structural shape. A total of 100 coupons (for 20 batches of five) were immersed in distilled water for three and six months at a constant temperature of 40°C. Subsequently, they were load tested using stainless steel ‘pins’ of M10 and M20 sizes with material orientations of 0o, 45o and 90o to the direction of pultrusion. Furthermore, this test series considered the effect of loading with and without bolt thread in the bearing zone. Testing employed a non-standard set-up that accommodates smaller test coupons, allowing material to be sourced from the web and flange of a 254×254×9.53 mm wide flange shape. An evaluation of the salient results provides characteristic bearing strength values (in accordance with Annex D of EN1990) and comparisons are drawn between equivalent strengths for non-aged (zero months) material from a previous test series. The degree of strength reduction is found to be influenced by both the ‘pin’ size and type, and observations are drawn towards the safe and reliable design of bolted connections

Eigenvalue extensions of Bohr's inequality

We present a weak majorization inequality and apply it to prove eigenvalue and unitarily invariant norm extensions of a version of the Bohr's inequality due to Vasi\'c and Ke\v{c}ki\'c.Comment: 8 pages, to appear in Linear Algebra App

Investigation in optimisation of accuracy with non-contact systems by influencing variable processes

The use of 3D scanning systems is becoming increasingly popular and an essential tool for manufacturers for inspection and measurement. With such systems being utilised on the manufacturing shop floor due to their portability and ease of use, it is no doubt that such systems are designed to address a variety of users whom, with minimal training can operate the equipment. Due to continuing demands of high-quality products there is the need for manufacturers of 3D scanning systems to develop technologies that deliver fast and accurate information. However, one of the key challenges lies not in the training of people to use the equipment, but to develop engineers who can produce traceable, accurate and precise results with a declared statement of confidence quantifying the quality of the measurement. This statement of the quality of the output results relies on employing a set of workflow actions that involve planning, capture, processing and analysis, and finally output. This paper sets out to show how the results from a set of workflow actions from different categories of 3D scanning devices affects the quality of output

Detecting and predicting visual affordance of objects in a given environment

The rapid growth of the development of autonomous robots is transforming the manufacturing and healthcare industry in many ways, but they still face many challenges. One of the challenges experienced by autonomous robots is their inability to manipulate an unknown object without human supervision. One way through which autonomous robots can manipulate an unknown object is affordance learning [1]. Affordance describes the action a user can perform on the object in given surroundings. This report describes our proposed model to detect and predict the affordance of an object from videos by leveraging the spatial-temporal feature extraction through ConvLSTM and Fully Convolutional Networks. Our model is built upon an Encoder-Decoder architecture. The encoder consists of CNN to capture spatial features of the input frames and ConvLSTM to capture the temporal dynamics of the input frames. The decoder utilizes the encoder\u27s output to classify the affordance of a given task and predict the interaction region between the human and the object in the form of a heatmap. The decoder is composed of a LSTM, utilized to classify affordance of a given task, and a Fully Convolutional Neural Network to predict the heatmap of the interaction region

Towards an analysis of student-centred learning in physical education

The study examines the background and philosophy of the term 'student-centred learning' and its implications for the teacher and student, in the light of recent initiatives and developments in Physical Education. The evidence of recent research indicates that much teaching of Physical Education is didactic and traditional in style (Spackman 1986) thus the implications of student-centred learning in Physical Education and the subsequent necessary change of focus are explored through the study. [Continues.

How mutable is the future: Can long futures be adaptively transformed by choices and decisions in the face of indomitable challenges?

An earlier inquiry and exploration into the systems involved in large scale space travel revealed a compelling narrative of balancing forces and in- fluences, which were later combined with strategy and game theory, and designed into a cooperative multiplayer board game. Evaluations (play- tests) of a prototype board-based game revealed several intriguing dynamics affecting the probabilities of complex futures, one of which suggested that futures are not the outcomes of planned trajectories, but are continuously changing possibilities over time, capable of moving between directional dynamics such as continuation, discipline, collapse, and transformation. Player motivations, interactions, decisions, and actions, both initiated or in response to events, were the primary authors of a game’s progression. This research project further investigates the influence of active intervention into future outcomes by explicitly incorporating critical uncertainties into an updated version of the board game. Using the updated game as a framework for interaction, the project collects data from Design Action Research workshops to discover a rubric effective for measuring patterns of change based on the Dator 4 Futures framework

Cluster Headache: What's New?

BACKGROUND: Cluster headache is a highly disabling primary headache disorder which is widely described as the most painful condition a human can experience. AIM: To provide an overview of the clinical characteristics, epidemiology, risk factors, differential diagnosis, pathophysiology and treatment options of cluster headache, with a focus on recent developments in the field. METHODS: Structured review of the literature on cluster headache. RESULTS: Cluster headache affects approximately one in 1000 of the population. It is characterised by attacks of severe unilateral head pain associated with ipsilateral cranial autonomic symptoms, and the tendency for attacks to occur with circadian and circannual periodicity. The pathophysiology of cluster headache and other primary headache disorders has recently become better understood and is thought to involve the hypothalamus and trigeminovascular system. There is good quality evidence for acute treatment of attacks with parenteral triptans and high flow oxygen; preventive treatment with verapamil; and transitional treatment with oral corticosteroids or greater occipital nerve injection. New pharmacological and neuromodulation therapies have recently been developed. CONCLUSION: Cluster headache causes distinctive symptoms, which once they are recognised can usually be managed with a variety of established treatments. Recent pathophysiological understanding has led to the development of newer pharmacological and neuromodulation therapies, which may soon become established in clinical practice