Development of High Granulated Straw Chambers of Large Sizes

We have developed the baseline design for the straw drift tube tracking detectors for high rate environment application. The low-mass inner straw elements and the technology of the multianode straws assembly was devised and checked. The prototype chamber was constructed and studied the granularity of similar chambers can be reduced to one cm2. Submitted to Physics of Elementary Particles and Atomic Nuclei, LettersComment: 6 pages, 10 figure

Checking Observational Purity of Procedures

Verifying whether a procedure is observationally pure is useful in many software engineering scenarios. An observationally pure procedure always returns the same value for the same argument, and thus mimics a mathematical function. The problem is challenging when procedures use private mutable global variables, e.g., for memoization of frequently returned answers, and when they involve recursion. We present a novel verification approach for this problem. Our approach involves encoding the procedure's code as a formula that is a disjunction of path constraints, with the recursive calls being replaced in the formula with references to a mathematical function symbol. Then, a theorem prover is invoked to check whether the formula that has been constructed agrees with the function symbol referred to above in terms of input-output behavior for all arguments. We evaluate our approach on a set of realistic examples, using the Boogie intermediate language and theorem prover. Our evaluation shows that the invariants are easy to construct manually, and that our approach is effective at verifying observationally pure procedures.Comment: FASE 201

Contribution of the nucleon-hyperon reaction channels to K−^- production in proton-nucleus collisions

The cross sections for producing K$^-$ mesons in nucleon-hyperon elementary processes are estimated assuming one-pion exchange and using the experimentally known pion-hyperon cross sections. The results are implemented in a transport model which is applied to calculation of proton-nucleus collisions. In significant difference to earlier estimates for heavy-ion collisions the inclusion of the nucleon-hyperon cross section roughly doubles the K$^-$ production in near-threshold proton-nucleus collisions

Deep Impression: Audiovisual Deep Residual Networks for Multimodal Apparent Personality Trait Recognition

Here, we develop an audiovisual deep residual network for multimodal apparent personality trait recognition. The network is trained end-to-end for predicting the Big Five personality traits of people from their videos. That is, the network does not require any feature engineering or visual analysis such as face detection, face landmark alignment or facial expression recognition. Recently, the network won the third place in the ChaLearn First Impressions Challenge with a test accuracy of 0.9109

Budget of Primary Production and Dinitrogen Fixation in a Highly Seasonal Red Sea Coral Reef

Biological dinitrogen (N2) fixation (diazotrophy, BNF) relieves marine primary producers of nitrogen (N) limitation in a large part of the world oceans. N concentrations are particularly low in tropical regions where coral reefs are located, and N is therefore a key limiting nutrient for these productive ecosystems. In this context, the importance of diazotrophy for reef productivity is still not resolved, with studies up to now lacking organismal and seasonal resolution. Here, we present a budget of gross primary production (GPP) and BNF for a highly seasonal Red Sea fringing reef, based on ecophysiological and benthic cover measurements combined with geospatial analyses. Benthic GPP varied from 215 to 262 mmol C m−2 reef d−1, with hard corals making the largest contribution (41–76%). Diazotrophy was omnipresent in space and time, and benthic BNF varied from 0.16 to 0.92 mmol N m−2 reef d−1. Planktonic GPP and BNF rates were respectively approximately 60- and 20-fold lower than those of the benthos, emphasizing the importance of the benthic compartment in reef biogeochemical cycling. BNF showed higher sensitivity to seasonality than GPP, implying greater climatic control on reef BNF. Up to about 20% of net reef primary production could be supported by BNF during summer, suggesting a strong biogeochemical coupling between diazotrophy and the reef carbon cycle

Bim and Bmf synergize to induce apoptosis in Neisseria gonorrhoeae infection

Abstract: Bcl-2 family proteins including the pro-apoptotic BH3-only proteins are central regulators of apoptotic cell death. Here we show by a focused siRNA miniscreen that the synergistic action of the BH3-only proteins Bim and Bmf is required for apoptosis induced by infection with Neisseria gonorrhoeae (Ngo). While Bim and Bmf were associated with the cytoskeleton of healthy cells, they both were released upon Ngo infection. Loss of Bim and Bmf from the cytoskeleton fraction required the activation of Jun-N-terminal kinase-1 (JNK-1), which in turn depended on Rac-1. Depletion and inhibition of Rac-1, JNK-1, Bim, or Bmf prevented the activation of Bak and Bax and the subsequent activation of caspases. Apoptosis could be reconstituted in Bim-depleted and Bmf-depleted cells by additional silencing of antiapoptotic Mcl-1 and Bcl-XL, respectively. Our data indicate a synergistic role for both cytoskeletal-associated BH3-only proteins, Bim, and Bmf, in an apoptotic pathway leading to the clearance of Ngo-infected cells. Author Summary: A variety of physiological death signals, as well as pathological insults, trigger apoptosis, a genetically programmed form of cell death. Pathogens often induce host cell apoptosis to establish a successful infection. Neisseria gonorrhoeae (Ngo), the etiological agent of the sexually transmitted disease gonorrhoea, is a highly adapted obligate human-specific pathogen and has been shown to induce apoptosis in infected cells. Here we unveil the molecular mechanisms leading to apoptosis of infected cells. We show that Ngo-mediated apoptosis requires a special subset of proapoptotic proteins from the group of BH3-only proteins. BH3-only proteins act as stress sensors to translate toxic environmental signals to the initiation of apoptosis. In a siRNA-based miniscreen, we found Bim and Bmf, BH3-only proteins associated with the cytoskeleton, necessary to induce host cell apoptosis upon infection. Bim and Bmf inactivated different inhibitors of apoptosis and thereby induced cell death in response to infection. Our data unveil a novel pathway of infection-induced apoptosis that enhances our understanding of the mechanism by which BH3-only proteins control apoptotic cell death

14th International Workshop on Advanced Computing and Analysis Techniques in Physics Research (ACAT 2011): Preface

No abstract available

Emergency intubation in trauma in KwaZuluNatal Province South Africa

Background. Advanced airway management is a research priority in prehospital care. There is a high burden of major trauma in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) Province, South Africa (SA), and transfer times to trauma units are often prolonged.Objectives. To examine emergency intubation practice in trauma and burns patients in Pietermaritzburg, KZN, and its environs.Methods. This was a prospective consecutive case series, conducted from 11 May to 17 July 2016. Data were collected from urban emergency department (ED), rural hospital and roadside procedures in Pietermaritzburg and its drainage area. Patients with emergency intubation following trauma were eligible for inclusion. The primary outcome was successful airway management. Secondary outcomes included first-pass success and adverse events.Results. Forty-one cases were recorded in patients aged 1 - 60 years. No instances of unsuccessful airway management were reported. Recorded first-pass intubation success rates were higher in receiving EDs than rural hospitals (19/22 v. 2/7; p=0.003). Use of a formal preintubation checklist was associated with a higher first-pass success rate (21/23 v. 6/15; p=0.001) and fewer adverse events (0/23 v. 7/16; p<0.001). Identified adverse event rates were 1/22 (EDs), 5/8 (rural hospitals) and 2/9 (roadside). Unmedicated intubation was more common in rural hospitals than EDs (3/8 v. 1/22; p=0.019), despite absence of cardiac arrest in these cases. Minimum standards of anaesthetic monitoring were not consistently met in any setting.Conclusions. The use of a preprocedural checklist was associated with improved intubation outcomes and may improve practice in SA trauma care and the prehospital environment, including in rural hospitals. Standardised rapid sequence induction protocols, routine use of introducers and end-tidal carbon dioxide monitoring, and increased availability of intraosseous devices also merit consideration. Key performance indicators should be monitored routinely.Â