Solving SAT in linear time with a neural-like membrane system

We present in this paper a neural-like membrane system solving the SAT problem in linear time. These neural Psystems are nets of cells working with multisets. Each cell has a finite state memory, processes multisets of symbol-impulses, and can send impulses (?excitations?) to the neighboring cells. The maximal mode of rules application and the replicative mode of communication between cells are at the core of the eficiency of these systems

Biologically active thiosemicarbazone Fe chelators and their reactions with ferrioxamine B and ferric EDTA; a kinetic study

The Fe abstraction from Fe /DFO and Fe /EDTA complex systems by thiosemicarbazone ligands derived from 2-acetylpyridine has been studied from a kinetico-mechanistic perspective at relevant pH conditions and at varying temperatures and buffer solutions. The reactions have been found to be extremely dependent on the dominant E/Z isomeric form of the TSC ligands present in the reaction medium. Consequently the isomerisation processes occurring on the free ligands have also been monitored under equivalent conditions. The isomerisation process is found to be acid dependent, despite the absence of protonation under the conditions used, and presumably proceeds via an azo-type tautomer of the ligand. In all cases the existence of outer-sphere interaction processes has been established, both promoting the reactions and producing dead-end complexes. The better oriented forms of the ligands (EZ thiolate) have been found to react faster with the [Fe(HDFO)] complex, although for mono-N substituted thiosemicarbazones the process is retarded by the formation of a dead-end outer-sphere complex. A comparison with the abstraction of Fe from [Fe(EDTA)(H O)] has also been conducted with significant differences in the kinetic features that implicate keystone outer-sphere interactions which dominate reactivity, even with isomeric forms that are not the best suited for direct complexation

Pediatric conjunctival lymphoma associated with oral carbamazepine use

AbstractPurposeTo report a case of a pediatric patient diagnosed with conjunctival lymphoma associated with oral carbamazepine use.ObservationAn 11-year-old boy who presented with 5-month history of a small nasal conjunctival mass in the left eye that failed therapy with topical corticosteroids. Upon excision and molecular analysis, diagnosis of Follicular Lymphoma was favored. The patient was healthy and did not have any known risk factors except for a history of epilepsy treated with systemic carbamazepine.Conclusion and importanceWe report a case of a rare childhood conjunctival lymphoma. Conjunctival lymphomas may masquerade as chronic conjunctivitis, or scleritis that fail therapy with topical corticosteroids. Furthermore, our patient did not have any known risk factors such as old age, systemic lymphoma or immunosuppression. The patient did have a history long-term use of systemic carbamazepine. This is to our knowledge the first case conjunctival lymphoma that may be associated to the use of carbamazepine

A Dissenters’ View on AppleSnail Immunobiology

We stand as dissenters against the acceptance of scientific knowledge that has not been built on empirical data. With this in mind, this review synthesizes selected aspects of the immunobiology of gastropods and of apple snails (Ampullariidae) in particular, from morphological to molecular and “omics” studies. Our trip went through more than two centuries of history and was guided by an evo-devo hypothesis: that the gastropod immune system originally developed in the mesenchymal connective tissue of the reno-pericardial complex, and that in that tissue some cells differentiated into hematopoietically committed progenitor cells that integrate constitutive hemocyte aggregations in the reno-pericardial territory, whether concentrated in the pericardium or the kidney in a species-specific manner. However, some of them may be freed from those aggregations, circulate in the blood, and form distant contingent aggregations anywhere in the body, but always in response to intruders (i.e., pathogens or any other immune challenge). After that, we reviewed the incipient immunology of the Ampullariidae by critically revising the findings in Pomacea canaliculata and Marisa cornuarietis, the only ampullariid species that have been studied in this respect, and we attempted to identify the effectors and the processes in which they are involved. Particularly for P. canaliculata, which is by far the most studied species, we ask which hemocytes are involved, in which tissues or organs are integrated, and what cellular reactions to intruders this species has in common with other animals. Furthermore, we wondered what humoral factors could also integrate its internal defense system. Among the cellular defenses, we give an outstanding position to the generation of hemocyte nodules, which seems to be an important process for these snails, serving the isolation and elimination of intruders. Finally, we discuss hematopoiesis in apple snails. There have been contrasting views about some of these aspects, but we envision a hematopoietic system centered in the constitutive hemocyte islets in the ampullariid kidney.Fil: Rodríguez, Cristian. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto de Histología y Embriología de Mendoza Dr. Mario H. Burgos. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias Médicas. Instituto de Histología y Embriología de Mendoza Dr. Mario H. Burgos; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Biología; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias Médicas. Instituto de Fisiología; ArgentinaFil: Vega, Israel Aníbal. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto de Histología y Embriología de Mendoza Dr. Mario H. Burgos. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias Médicas. Instituto de Histología y Embriología de Mendoza Dr. Mario H. Burgos; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Biología; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias Médicas. Instituto de Fisiología; ArgentinaFil: Castro Vazquez, Alfredo Juan. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto de Histología y Embriología de Mendoza Dr. Mario H. Burgos. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias Médicas. Instituto de Histología y Embriología de Mendoza Dr. Mario H. Burgos; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Biología; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias Médicas. Instituto de Fisiología; Argentin

Motor de sistemes de partícules executat a la GPU

[CATALÀ] Desenvolupament d'un motor de sistemes de partícules que utilitza la GPU per fer els càlculs de la física en paral·lel. Centrat sobretor en la visualització realista d'aquest tipus de sistemes.[ANGLÈS] Development of a particle system engine where the physics computes are GPU based to exploit the GPU parallelism. There are also some visualization techniques implemented to achive the maximum realism

Adipocitoquinas y síndrome metabólico : rol de la vistafina en la patogenia de enfermedad cardiovascular

La enfermedad cardiovascular es la primera causa de morbi-mortalidad en los países industrializados. El síndrome metabólico, caracterizado por hipertensión, dislipidemia, obesidad e hiperglucemia, constituye el principal factor de riesgo para la enfermedad cardiovascular. El tejido adiposo visceral juega un papel fundamental en este proceso, dado que secreta una variedad de sustancias biológicamente activas denominadas adipoquinas o adipocitoquinas, tales como leptina, resistina, adiponectina, factor de necrosis tumoral alfa (TNFa), y visfatina entre otras. La visfatina es una citoquina descubierta recientemente y su rol en la enfermedad cardiovascular es controversial y aún no ha sido completamente dilucidado. Estudios realizados en humanos y en modelos experimentales en animales sugieren que la visfatina tendría un papel muy importante en las patologías asociadas a la enfermedad cardiovascular. Esta revisión intenta mostrar los últimos avances sobre el rol de la visfatina y las principales adipocitoquinas en las patologías cardiovasculares y el síndrome metabólico.Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of mortality in western countries. Metabolic syndrome (MS), characterized by hyperlipidemia, hypertension, obesity and hyperglycemia, is a significant risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Visceral adipose tissue play a key role in the development of metabolic syndrome since this tissue secrets a variety of bioactive substances named adipokines or adipocytokines such as leptin, resistin, adiponectin, tumor necrosis factor alfa (TNFa), and visfatin. Visfatin has been described recently and its role in cardiovascular disease is controversial and has not yet been fully elucidated. Studies in human and animal experimental models suggest that visfatin would have a key role in the pathologies associates with cardiovascular disease. This review is focused in the role of visfatin as well as the main dipocytokines with cardiovascular disease and metabolic syndrome.Fil: Rodríguez Lanzi, María Cecilia. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias Médicas. Área de Fisiología PatológicaFil: Miatello, Roberto. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias Médicas. Área de Fisiología PatológicaFil: Vazquez-Prieto, Marcela Alejandra. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias Médicas. Área de Fisiología Patológic

Uncertainty analysis of chest X-ray lung height measurements and size matching for lung transplantation

Lung transplantation; Chest X-ray; PrecisionTrasplante de pulmón; Radiografía de tórax; PrecisiónTrasplantament de pulmó; Radiografia de tòrax; PrecisióBackground: Errors in measuring chest X-ray (CXR) lung heights could contribute to the occurrence of size-mismatched lung transplant procedures. Methods: We first used Bland-Altman analysis for repeated measures to evaluate contributors to measurement error of chest X-ray lung height. We then applied error propagation theory to assess the impact of measurement error on size matching for lung transplantation. Results: A total 387 chest X-rays from twenty-five donors and twenty-five recipients were measured by two raters. Individual standard deviation for lung height differences were independent of age, sex, donor vs. recipient, diagnostic group and race/ethnicity and all were pooled for analysis. Bias between raters was 0.27 cm (±0.03) and 0.22 cm (±0.06) for the right and left lung respectively. Within subject variability was the biggest contributor to error in measurement, 2.76 cm (±0.06) and 2.78 cm (±0.2) for the right and left lung height. A height difference of 4.4 cm or more (95% CI: ±4.2, ±4.6 cm) between the donor and the recipient right lung height has to be accepted to ensure matching for at least 95% of patients with the same true lung height. This difference decreases to ±1.1 cm (95% CI: ±0.9, ±1.3 cm) when the average from all available chest X-rays is used. The probability of matching a donor and a recipient decreases with increasing true lung height difference. Conclusions: Individual chest X-ray lung heights are imprecise for the purpose of size matching in lung transplantation. Averaging chest X-rays lung heights reduced uncertainty.This research was supported by the Washington University Institute of Clinical and Translational Sciences Grant UL1TR002345 from the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official view of the NIH

Hispanoamérica en el teatro del Siglo de Oro : "El nuevo rey Gallinato y ventura por desgracia" de Andrés de Claramonte

La comedia heroica El nuevo rey Gallinato y ventura por desgracia, de Andrés de Claramonte es una de las primeras obras (representada ya en abril de 1604) en las que se propone la figura del hombre del Nuevo Mundo. Como obra de una época en la que todavía no se había asentado el modelo lopiano clásico esquematizado en el Arte nuevo, aparecen elementos heterogéneos (como la personificación de figuras morales) y escenas y parlamentos resueltos tal vez de forma apresurada; junto a ello, el plan general de la obra y el tratamiento de la trama con un sólido sentido del espectáculo teatral ofrecen una serie de valores dramáticos y escénicos muy notables, que contrapesan los errores parciales que la crítica ha señalado. Una apreciación equilibrada de esta obra primeriza debe contemplar ambas cosas, tanto las luces como las sombras.The heroic comedy El nuevo rey Gallinato y ventura por desgracia is one of the first plays (it was represented in april 1604) to present the figure of the New World man. As a work from a time in which the classic lopean model, as set in the Arte nuevo, had not yet completely settied, it contains heterogeneous ingredients (i. e. the personification of moral figures), and some sketchy scenes and speeches; along with that, the general outline of the play and the firm sense of drama offer a number of notable dramatic and scenic valúes that counteract the partial flaws critics have pointed out in it. A balanced view of this early efTort should pay attention to both virtues and flaws of this work