Accessing Textual Information Embedded in Internet Images

Indexing and searching for WWW pages is relying on analysing text. Current technology cannot process the text embedded in images on WWW pages. This paper argues that this is a significant problem as text in image form is usually semantically important (e.g. headers, titles). The results of a recent study are presented to show that the majority (76%) of words embedded in images do not appear elsewhere in the main text and that the majority (56%) of ALT tag descriptions of images are incorrect or do not exist at all. Research under way to devise tools to extract text from images based on the way humans perceive colour differences is outlined and results are presented

Gene deficiency in activating Fcγ receptors influences the macrophage phenotypic balance and reduces atherosclerosis in mice

Immunity contributes to arterial inflammation during atherosclerosis. Oxidized low-density lipoproteins induce an autoimmune response characterized by specific antibodies and immune complexes in atherosclerotic patients. We hypothesize that specific Fcγ receptors for IgG constant region participate in atherogenesis by regulating the inflammatory state of lesional macrophages. In vivo we examined the role of activating Fcγ receptors in atherosclerosis progression using bone marrow transplantation from mice deficient in γ-chain (the common signaling subunit of activating Fcγ receptors) to hyperlipidemic mice. Hematopoietic deficiency of Fcγ receptors significantly reduced atherosclerotic lesion size, which was associated with decreased number of macrophages and T lymphocytes, and increased T regulatory cell function. Lesions of Fcγ receptor deficient mice exhibited increased plaque stability, as evidenced by higher collagen and smooth muscle cell content and decreased apoptosis. These effects were independent of changes in serum lipids and antibody response to oxidized low-density lipoproteins. Activating Fcγ receptor deficiency reduced pro-inflammatory gene expression, nuclear factor-κB activity, and M1 macrophages at the lesion site, while increasing anti-inflammatory genes and M2 macrophages. The decreased inflammation in the lesions was mirrored by a reduced number of classical inflammatory monocytes in blood. In vitro, lack of activating Fcγ receptors attenuated foam cell formation, oxidative stress and pro-inflammatory gene expression, and increased M2-associated genes in murine macrophages. Our study demonstrates that activating Fcγ receptors influence the macrophage phenotypic balance in the artery wall of atherosclerotic mice and suggests that modulation of Fcγ receptor-mediated inflammatory responses could effectively suppress atherosclerosis

Magnetic Fields to Enhance Tuned Liquid Damper Performance for Vibration Control: A Review

Tuned Liquid Dampers (TLDs) are dissipative devices whose distinguished features like low cost in installation and maintenance or their multidirectional and multifrequency application to new and already existing structures make them an attractive damping option. Their working principle is similar to that of a Tuned Mass Damper but in this case the relative movement comes from a fluid that provides with mass, damping and stiffness. Moreover, TLDs can mitigate both horizontal and vertical vibrations. All these make TLDs worth deeply studying. TLD utilization in civil vibration control arose in the 1980s. From early years, different improvements have been implemented to achieve a better performance. Some of these modifications include passive variations in the geometry or the fluid. The use of smart materials applied on TLDs has also been of great interest since the 1990s and comprehends different configurations in which magnetic fields are used to passively or semi-actively improve the TLD performance. A lack of review is detected in this field. For this reason, a state-of-the-art review is presented in this paper. Its aim is to help researchers find a thorough, up-to-date classification of the different possibilities, configurations, numerical evaluation, materials used and also found limitations and future development in the application of magnetic fields on TLDs

Effect of Diacerein on Insulin Secretion and Metabolic Control in Drug-Naïve Patients With Type 2 Diabetes: A randomized clinical trial

OBJECTIVE - To assess the effect of diacerein on insulin secretion and metabolic control in drug-naïve patients with type 2 diabetes. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS - A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial was carried out in 40 drug-naïve adult patients with type 2 diabetes. A metabolic profile including interleukin (IL)-1β, tumor necrosis factor-a, IL-6, and fasting insulin levelswas carried out before the intervention and 2months afterward. A hyperglycemic-hyperinsulinemic clamp technique was performed to assess the phases of insulin secretion and insulin sensitivity. After randomization, 20 patients received diacerein (50mg once daily) for the first 15 days and twice daily for 45 additional days. The remaining patients received placebo. Intra- and intergroup differences were calculated by Wilcoxon signed rank and Mann-Whitney U tests. RESULTS-Therewere significant increases in first (102 ± 63 vs. 130 ± 75 pmol/L; P<0.01), late (219 ± 111 vs. 280 ± 135 pmol/L; P<0.01), and total insulin (178691 vs. 216699pmol/L; P<0.01) secretionswithout changes in insulin sensitivity after diacerein administration. There were significant decreases in fasting glucose (7.9 ± 1.4 vs. 6.8 ± 1.0mmol/L; P<0.01) and in A1C levels (8.3 ± 1.0 vs. 7.0 ± 0.8%; P < 0.001) after diacerein administration. There were no significant changes after placebo administration in the above-mentioned evaluations. CONCLUSIONS - Insulin secretion increased and metabolic control improved after diacerein administration in drug-naïve patients with type 2 diabetes. © 2011 by the American Diabetes Association

High-throughput biointerfaces for direct, label-free, and multiplexed metaplasmonic biosensing

In recent years, metaplasmonic biosensors have emerged as a novel counterpart of well-established plasmonic biosensors based on thin metallic layers. Metaplasmonic biosensors offer high potential for sensor miniaturiza-tion, extreme sensitivity biosensing, and high multiplexing capabilities with detection methods free of coupling optical elements. These capabilities make metaplasmonic biosensors highly attractive for Point-of-Care and handled/portable devices or novel On-Chip devices; as a result, it has increased the number of prototypes and potential applications that emerged during the last years. One of the main challenges to achieving fully operative devices is the achievement of high-throughput biointerfaces for sensitive and selective biodetection in complex media. Despite the superior surface sensitivity achieved by metaplasmonic sensors compared to conventional plasmonic sensors based on metallic thin films, the main limitations to achieving high-throughput and multiplexed biosensing usually are associated with the sensitivity and selectivity of the bioin-terface and, as a consequence, their application to the direct analysis of real complex samples. This graphical review discusses the potential challenges and capabilities of different biofunctionalization strategies, biorecog-nition elements, and antifouling strategies to achieve scalable and high-throughput metaplasmonic biosensing for Point-of-Care devices and bioengineering applications like Organs-On-Chip

Exactly solvable associated Lame potentials and supersymmetric transformations

A systematic procedure to derive exact solutions of the associated Lame equation for an arbitrary value of the energy is presented. Supersymmetric transformations in which the seed solutions have factorization energies inside the gaps are used to generate new exactly solvable potentials; some of them exhibit an interesting property of periodicity defects.Comment: Annals of Phys.(in press); Present e-mail of AG: [email protected]