Prism complexes

A prism is the product space $\Delta \times I$ where $\Delta$ is a 2-simplex and $I$ is a closed interval. As an analogue of simplicial complexes, we introduce prism complexes and show that every compact $3$-manifold has a prism complex structure. We call a prism complex special if each interior horizontal edge lies in four prisms, each boundary horizontal edge lies in two prisms and no horizontal face lies on the boundary. We give a criteria for existence of horizontal surfaces in (possibly non-orientable) Seifert fibered spaces. Using this we show that a compact $3$-manifold admits a special prism complex structure if and only if it is a Seifert fibered space with non-empty boundary, a Seifert fibered space with a non-empty collection of surfaces in its exceptional set or a closed Seifert fibered space with Euler number zero. So in particular, a compact $3$-manifold with boundary is a Seifert fibered space if and only if it has a special prism complex structure.Comment: Exposition improved. Minor errors correcte

Sharing Spaces and Entanglements With Big Cats: The Warli and Their Waghoba in Maharashtra, India

Long histories of sharing space and resources have built complex, robust, and enduring relationships between humans and wildlife in many communities across the world. In order to understand what makes it possible for humans and wildlife to share space, we have to look beyond the ecological and socio-economic study of damages caused by human-wildlife conflict and explore the cultural and societal context within which co-existence is embedded. We conducted an exploratory study on the institution of Waghoba, a big cat deity worshiped by the Indigenous Warli community in Maharashtra, India. Through our research, we found that the worship of Waghoba is highly prevalent, with 150 shrines dedicated to this deity across our study site. We also learnt that the Warlis believe in a reciprocal relationship, where Waghoba will protect them from the negative impacts of sharing spaces with big cats if the people worship the deity and conduct the required rituals, especially the annual festival of Waghbaras. We propose that such relationships facilitate the sharing spaces between humans and leopards that live in the landscape. The study also revealed the ways in which the range of institutions and stakeholders in the landscape shape the institution of Waghoba and thereby contribute to the human-leopard relationship in the landscape. This is relevant for present-day wildlife conservation because such traditional institutions are likely to act as tolerance-building mechanisms embedded within the local cosmology. Further, it is vital that the dominant stakeholders outside of the Warli community (such as the Forest Department, conservation biologists, and other non-Warli residents who interact with leopards) are informed about and sensitive to these cultural representations because it is not just the biological animal that the Warlis predominantly deal with

Testing a computational model of causative overgeneralizations: Child judgment and production data from English, Hebrew, Hindi, Japanese and K'iche'.

How do language learners avoid the production of verb argument structure overgeneralization errors ( *The clown laughed the man c.f. The clown made the man laugh), while retaining the ability to apply such generalizations productively when appropriate? This question has long been seen as one that is both particularly central to acquisition research and particularly challenging. Focussing on causative overgeneralization errors of this type, a previous study reported a computational model that learns, on the basis of corpus data and human-derived verb-semantic-feature ratings, to predict adults' by-verb preferences for less- versus more-transparent causative forms (e.g., * The clown laughed the man vs The clown made the man laugh) across English, Hebrew, Hindi, Japanese and K'iche Mayan. Here, we tested the ability of this model (and an expanded version with multiple hidden layers) to explain binary grammaticality judgment data from children aged 4;0-5;0, and elicited-production data from children aged 4;0-5;0 and 5;6-6;6 ( N=48 per language). In general, the model successfully simulated both children's judgment and production data, with correlations of r=0.5-0.6 and r=0.75-0.85, respectively, and also generalized to unseen verbs. Importantly, learners of all five languages showed some evidence of making the types of overgeneralization errors - in both judgments and production - previously observed in naturalistic studies of English (e.g., *I'm dancing it). Together with previous findings, the present study demonstrates that a simple learning model can explain (a) adults' continuous judgment data, (b) children's binary judgment data and (c) children's production data (with no training of these datasets), and therefore constitutes a plausible mechanistic account of the acquisition of verbs' argument structure restrictions

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead

Neurobeachin Reguliert Synaptischer Transport von Neurotransmitter Rezeptoren

Informationen in neuronalen Netzwerken werden hauptsächlich durch chemische Synapsen vermittelt. In der Regel erhält eine Nervenzelle tausende von ankommenden Signalen von anderen Neuronen. Durch die Aktivierung einer großen Anzahl von Rezeptormolekülen in der postsynaptischen Membran werden diese Signale auf die nächste Nervenzelle übertragen. Die funktionelle Integrität von Synapsen ist daher eng an die Lokalisation und Funktion von postsynaptischen Rezeptoren gekoppelt. Der Transport, die Verankerung und der Umsatz von Rezeptorproteinen in der postsynaptischen Membran tragen zur Stärke der synaptischen Verbindung bei. Dies wird durch eine Vielzahl von Proteinen kontrolliert, die verantwortlich sind für den Transport und die Sortierung von anderen Proteinen, aber auch von Motor- und Gerüstproteinen. Die vorliegende Studie identifiziert Neurobeachin (Nbea), ein nervzellspezifisches BEACH -Domän Protein, als ein neuartiges und grundlegendes Regulationsprotein für den Transport von Neurotransmitterrezeptoren zu der postsynaptischen Membran. Der Verlust von Nbea führt zu einer reduzierten Oberflächenexpression von GABA-A und Glutamate Rezeptoren und somit zu einer Reduktion der GABAergen und Glutamatergen Informationsübertragung zwischen Neuronen. In Nervenzellen, in denen Nbea ausgeschaltet wurde, werden AMAP-Rezeptoren im endoplasmatischen Retikulum und im Golgi-Apparat zurückgehalten. Kainate, NMDA und GABA-A Rezeptoren erreichen die postsynaptische Membran ebenfalls nicht. Allerdings ist sowohl die Gesamtexpression von prä- und postsynaptischen Proteinen, deren Reifung, die Oberflächenexpression von weiteren Membranproteinen, also auch die präsynaptische Funktionalität und die Bildung von Synapsen im Allgemeinen nicht gestört, wenn Nbea ausgeschaltet wurde. Unter Ruhebedingungen reguliert Nbea somit die Bereitstellung und den Transport von Neurotransmitterrezeptoren direkt vom endoplasmatischen Retikulum zur synaptischen Membran. Somit übt Nbea einen großen Einfluss auf die synaptische Informationsübertragung aus

Customized Sparse Eigenvalue Solutions in Lighthouse

We come across sparse eigenvalue problems in many areas of scientific computing. A variety of high-performance numerical software packages with many different eigensolvers are available to solve such problems. Two main challenges arise while solving these problems: 1) finding the eigensolver routine that can correctly solve the problem and 2) implementing the desired solution accurately and efficiently using the appropriate software package. Our work overcomes these two challenges by intelligently identifying the sparse eigensolvers that are likely to perform the best for the given user-specified input characteristics and auto generating customized code template that uses the identified best solver. Lighthouse Taxonomy is a novel interface and search platform for users seeking software solutions to linear algebra problems. For this thesis, we integrated SLEPc into Lighthouse to support sparse eigenvalue solutions

Synthesis, Characterization & Anti-Bacterial Studies of Mannich base N-(phenyl(thioureido methyl) benzamide and its Metal Complexes

Abstract- A novel Mannich base of N-(phenyl(thioureido methyl)benzamide (BBTU) and its coordination complexes with transition metals Mn,Co,Ni,Cu & Zn have been synthesized and characterized on the basis of elemental analysis, molar conductance, magnetic susceptibility measurements, UV-visible, IR, NMR & Mass spectral studies. The ligand (BBTU) and metal complexes were tested for antimicrobial properties

Variation of lexan polycarbonate properties by electron beam

The modifications in microstructural, optical, and photoluminescence properties of the Lexan polycarbonate (bisphenol-A-polycarbonate) films exposed to different electron doses have been studied using UV-vis spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy, photoluminescence spectroscopy, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The obtained UV-vis spectroscopy results showed decrease in optical energy gap, optical activation energy, and increase in number of carbon atoms per cluster with increase in electron dose. The chemical changes in electron irradiated polymers due to chain scission and reconstruction have been observed from FTIR spectroscopy. The correlation of positron lifetime study with optical measurement is obtained, and electron irradiation-induced microstructural modifications within the polymer is understood. SEM result shows the degradation of Lexan polymer after electron irradiation. The mechanical properties and average molecular weight of Lexan decrease after irradiation, whereas average number of chain scissions per original polymer molecule increases