Good families of Drinfeld modular curves

In this paper we investigate examples of good and optimal Drinfeld modular towers of function fields. Surprisingly, the optimality of these towers has not been investigated in full detail in the literature. We also give an algorithmic approach on how to obtain explicit defining equations for some of these towers and in particular give a new explicit example of an optimal tower over a quadratic finite field

Efficient conditional inactivation of Rdh10 reveals important role of retinoic acid during lung branching morphogenesis.

Birth defects are complicated pathological processes. Many birth defects can be traced back to disrupted regulation of molecular signaling pathways during embryogenesis. One of the most important gene regulatory factors during embryo development is retinoic acid (RA). However, studying the specific roles of RA in each organ during embryogenesis in vivo is challenging. The Sandell laboratory has a conditional mutant mouse model that can potentially be used for studying the role of RA during embryogenesis by inducing stage-specific RA deficiency. This model allows retinol dehydrogenase 10 (Rdh10), a gene required for RA production, to be inactivated at a chosen time by exposing the embryos to the drug tamoxifen. However, in order for this conditional genetic inactivation model to be used for rigorous analysis of birth defects resulting from RA deficiency, it is essential to know the kinetics of Rdh10 gene inactivation following exposure to the inducing drug tamoxifen. In order to characterize the conditional Rdh10 mutant model so that it can be useful to study the impact of RA deficiency on birth defects, I have determined the kinetics of the inactivation Rdh10 upon exposure of the embryos to tamoxifen. My characterization of the conditional Rdh10 inactivation kinetics was useful to other researchers, enabling them to use stage-specific Rdh10 inactivation to identify new roles for RA in embryonic development, such as in formation of salivary glands and secondary palate. The characterization of the 6conditional Rdh10 inactivation kinetics was also useful for my analysis of RA role in lung branching morphogenesis later. Using the stage-specific Rdh10 inactivation model I identified that RA is important for lung branching after the formation of the lung buds. Gene expression analysis revealed that the defects in lung branching morphogenesis of Rdh10 mutant embryos were not associated with mis-regulation of the known RA-regulated gene Fgf10, but were associated with overexpression of Ctgf and Mgp

Activation of GABAA and 5HT1A receptors in the raphe pallidus abolish the cardiovascular responses to stress in conscious rats

Serotonergic neurons of the raphe pallidus area of the brainstem are involved in the cardiovascular responses to stress. However, the manner in which they mediate these responses is not well understood and severe abnormalities in this system have been associated with Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. In the current study, microinjections of muscimol and 8-OH-DPAT (GABAA and 5HT1A receptor agonists, respectively) into the raphe pallidus abolished the increase in mean arterial pressure and the tachycardiac responses following air jet, handing, and restraint stress that were observed following microinjections of artificial cerebrospinal fluid. The stress responses following muscimol microinjections suggest that this region of the brainstem was responsible for mediating cardiovascular responses to stress. The result of DPAT microinjections suggests that within this region of the brainstem, the serotonin system is responsible for these responses

The Prominent Role of Hat Chap Cai Luong Arts in Tourist Attraction to Thoi Son Island, Tien Giang Province

The purpose of this article is to study and analyze the current development and utilization of cultural and artistic tourism products on Thoi Son Island, Tien Giang Province. The article focuses on evaluating the effectiveness of incorporating don ca tai tu music (a genre of chamber music in the traditional music of southern Vietnam) in serving tourism activities in recent times and identifying existing issues in the development process of these cultural and artistic tourism products. In addition to discussing the advantages and competitive capabilities of Thoi Son Island, the article also proposes suitable solutions for the development of cultural and artistic tourism products in the locality, particularly the application and promotion of the art of hat chap cai luong (one of the traditional theater opera plays in southern Vietnam) combined with storytelling for tourism purposes. The research methodology employed in the article combines both quantitative and qualitative approaches. The quantitative part of the research will concentrate on collecting data on tourist numbers, income from cultural and artistic tourism activities, and tourist satisfaction. The qualitative part will involve conducting interviews, surveys, and gathering opinions from experts and local residents to gain a better understanding of the issues related to cultural and artistic tourism products featuring cai luong singing on Thoi Son Island. The research findings indicate that incorporating the art of hat chap cai luong into tourism activities is effective. However, several issues have been identified that need to be addressed, such as diversifying cultural and artistic tourism products, protecting and promoting the local cultural values, and ensuring the ability to meet the future demand for cultural tourism products without causing har

Cooperative Relative Positioning of Mobile Users by Fusing IMU Inertial and UWB Ranging Information

Relative positioning between multiple mobile users is essential for many applications, such as search and rescue in disaster areas or human social interaction. Inertial-measurement unit (IMU) is promising to determine the change of position over short periods of time, but it is very sensitive to error accumulation over long term run. By equipping the mobile users with ranging unit, e.g. ultra-wideband (UWB), it is possible to achieve accurate relative positioning by trilateration-based approaches. As compared to vision or laser-based sensors, the UWB does not need to be with in line-of-sight and provides accurate distance estimation. However, UWB does not provide any bearing information and the communication range is limited, thus UWB alone cannot determine the user location without any ambiguity. In this paper, we propose an approach to combine IMU inertial and UWB ranging measurement for relative positioning between multiple mobile users without the knowledge of the infrastructure. We incorporate the UWB and the IMU measurement into a probabilistic-based framework, which allows to cooperatively position a group of mobile users and recover from positioning failures. We have conducted extensive experiments to demonstrate the benefits of incorporating IMU inertial and UWB ranging measurements.Comment: accepted by ICRA 201

Monitoring quantity and quality of pangasius pond effluent : report of a monitoring program and recommendations for certification

The quantity and quality of pangasius pond effluent was monitored by means of monthly sampling during a study conducted on four striped catfish farms located in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam. The study was undertaken to test the practical implications of the standards and guidelines with regard to catfish pond effluent that are at present developed by various certification programs for striped catfish production in Vietnam. The results showed a great variability twelve pangasius pond within the samples that were taken during one period of partial pond draining and refilling. The consequences of such variability with regard to the certification standards and guidelines are discussed and recommendations are given