Excitability in autonomous Boolean networks

We demonstrate theoretically and experimentally that excitable systems can be built with autonomous Boolean networks. Their experimental implementation is realized with asynchronous logic gates on a reconfigurabe chip. When these excitable systems are assembled into time-delay networks, their dynamics display nanosecond time-scale spike synchronization patterns that are controllable in period and phase.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures, accepted in Europhysics Letters (epljournal.edpsciences.org

Frequency of neurolopsychological deficits after traumatic brain injury

El traumatismo craneoencefálico (TCE) puede conllevar impactantes cambios en la vida cotidiana, que incluyen alteraciones a nivel social, profesional, comunicativo y cognitivo (dificultades atencionales, mnemónicas y ejecutivas). Este estudio tuvo por objeto caracterizar la ocurrencia de déficits neuropsicológicos post-TCE y constatar el impacto ocasionado por el nivel de severidad del trauma en el desempeño cognitivo de los pacientes. Participaron 96 adultos en la muestra total, que fue dividida en dos grupos para evaluar el nivel de severidad del trauma: TCE leve (n=39) y TCE grave (n=77). La gravedad de la lesión se clasificó por medio de la Escala de Coma de Glasgow, por la duración de la pérdida de consciencia, o por la amnesia post-traumática. No había diferencias entre la edad y la escolaridad de los participantes. Para la comparación entre los grupos en cuanto a la distribución de ocurrencia de déficits neuropsicológicos, se utilizó el Chi-cuadrado. Se utilizó una batería de evaluación neuropsicológica flexible conformada por tareas verbales y visoespaciales de habilidades lingüísticas, mnemónicas y ejecutivas. Los grupos no se diferenciaron en cuanto a las variables sociodemográficas. Los pacientes con TCE leve tuvieron mejores puntajes comparados con los de TCE grave (número de errores y categorías completadas del Test de clasificación de tarjetas de Wisconsin- [WCST, por sus siglas en inglés]; errores en la parte B del Test de Hayling; y en la interferencia retro y proactiva del Test de aprendizaje auditivo verbal de Rey [RAVLT, por sus siglas en inglés]. El nivel de severidad del trauma parece mostrar diferencias en los individuos en cuanto al desempeño en memoria episódica de información nueva y en el control de interferencia entre los recuerdos; lo mismo se aplica a las funciones de flexibilidad e inhibición. Estos resultados sugieren que es necesaria una mayor inversión en acciones de políticas públicas, priorizando intervenciones neurocognitivas reeducativas y métodos de prevención de accidentes relacionados con lesiones traumáticas que tengan alta incidencia de secuelas.El traumatismo craneoencefálico (TCE) puede conllevar impactantes cambios en la vida cotidiana, que incluyen alteraciones a nivel social, profesional, comunicativo y cognitivo (dificultades atencionales, mnemónicas y ejecutivas). Este estudio tuvo por objeto caracterizar la ocurrencia de déficits neuropsicológicos post-TCE y constatar el impacto ocasionado por el nivel de severidad del trauma en el desempeño cognitivo de los pacientes. Participaron 96 adultos en la muestra total, que fue dividida en dos grupos para evaluar el nivel de severidad del trauma: TCE leve (n=39) y TCE grave (n=77). La gravedad de la lesión se clasificó por medio de la Escala de Coma de Glasgow, por la duración de la pérdida de consciencia, o por la amnesia post-traumática. No había diferencias entre la edad y la escolaridad de los participantes. Para la comparación entre los grupos en cuanto a la distribución de ocurrencia de déficits neuropsicológicos, se utilizó el Chi-cuadrado. Se utilizó una batería de evaluación neuropsicológica flexible conformada por tareas verbales y visoespaciales de habilidades lingüísticas, mnemónicas y ejecutivas. Los grupos no se diferenciaron en cuanto a las variables sociodemográficas. Los pacientes con TCE leve tuvieron mejores puntajes comparados con los de TCE grave (número de errores y categorías completadas del Test de clasificación de tarjetas de Wisconsin- [WCST, por sus siglas en inglés]; errores en la parte B del Test de Hayling; y en la interferencia retro y proactiva del Test de aprendizaje auditivo verbal de Rey [RAVLT, por sus siglas en inglés]. El nivel de severidad del trauma parece mostrar diferencias en los individuos en cuanto al desempeño en memoria episódica de información nueva y en el control de interferencia entre los recuerdos; lo mismo se aplica a las funciones de flexibilidad e inhibición. Estos resultados sugieren que es necesaria una mayor inversión en acciones de políticas públicas, priorizando intervenciones neurocognitivas reeducativas y métodos de prevención de accidentes relacionados con lesiones traumáticas que tengan alta incidencia de secuelas.Traumatic brain injury (TBI) can lead to significant changes in daily life, as well as in social, labor, communicative, and cognitive domains (attention, memory and executive functions). This study aimed to characterize the occurrence of post-TBI neuropsychological deficits as well as to determine whether there is an impact related to the level of severity of the trauma on the patient's performance. Ninety-six adults participated in the study, who were divided in two groups to assess the trauma's level of severity: mild TBI (n=39) and severe TBI (n=57). This severity was classified by the Glasgow Coma Scale, by the duration of consciousness loss, or by post-traumatic amnesia. There were no differences between the groups regarding variables of age and years of schooling. A Chi- square test was used to do a comparison between the two groups in terms of occurrence of neuropsychological deficits. Verbal, visuospatial, mnemonic, linguistic and executive tests composed a flexible neuropsychological battery. Patients with mild TBI had better scores compared to those with severe TBI (number of errors and in completed categories of the Modified Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (MWCST); errors in Part B of The Hayling Test; and proactive and retroactive interference in the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT). The severity of the trauma seems to differentiate individual's performance on episodic memory of new information and in the control of interference between memories; the same is applied to flexibility and inhibition functions. These results suggest the need for more investments in public health policy actions, prioritizing neurocognitive remedial intervention and prevention methods for such condition with high incidence of sequelae

Speeding up Simplification of Polygonal Curves using Nested Approximations

We develop a multiresolution approach to the problem of polygonal curve approximation. We show theoretically and experimentally that, if the simplification algorithm A used between any two successive levels of resolution satisfies some conditions, the multiresolution algorithm MR will have a complexity lower than the complexity of A. In particular, we show that if A has a O(N2/K) complexity (the complexity of a reduced search dynamic solution approach), where N and K are respectively the initial and the final number of segments, the complexity of MR is in O(N).We experimentally compare the outcomes of MR with those of the optimal "full search" dynamic programming solution and of classical merge and split approaches. The experimental evaluations confirm the theoretical derivations and show that the proposed approach evaluated on 2D coastal maps either shows a lower complexity or provides polygonal approximations closer to the initial curves.Comment: 12 pages + figure

Laboratory capability and surveillance testing for Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus infection in the WHO European Region, June 2013

Since September 2012, over 90 cases of respiratory disease caused by a novel coronavirus, now named Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERSCoV), have been reported in the Middle East and Europe. To ascertain the capabilities and testing experience of national reference laboratories across the World Health Organization (WHO) European Region to detect this virus, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and the WHO Regional Office for Europe conducted a joint survey in November 2012 and a follow-up survey in June 2013. In 2013, 29 of 52 responding WHO European Region countries and 24 of 31 countries of the European Union/European Economic Area (EU/EEA) had laboratory capabilities to detect and confirm MERS-CoV cases, compared with 22 of 46 and 18 of 30 countries, respectively, in 2012. By June 2013, more than 2,300 patients had been tested in 23 countries in the WHO European Region with nine laboratory-confirmed MERS-CoV cases. These data indicate that the Region has developed significant capability to detect this emerging virus in accordance with WHO and ECDC guidance. However, not all countries had developed capabilities, and the needs to do so should be addressed. This includes enhancing collaborations between countries to ensure diagnostic capabilities for surveillance of MERS-CoV infections across the European Region.S

Oval Domes: History, Geometry and Mechanics

An oval dome may be defined as a dome whose plan or profile (or both) has an oval form. The word Aoval@ comes from the latin Aovum@, egg. Then, an oval dome has an egg-shaped geometry. The first buildings with oval plans were built without a predetermined form, just trying to close an space in the most economical form. Eventually, the geometry was defined by using arcs of circle with common tangents in the points of change of curvature. Later the oval acquired a more regular form with two axis of symmetry. Therefore, an “oval” may be defined as an egg-shaped form, doubly symmetric, constructed with arcs of circle; an oval needs a minimum of four centres, but it is possible also to build polycentric ovals. The above definition corresponds with the origin and the use of oval forms in building and may be applied without problem until, say, the XVIIIth century. Since then, the teaching of conics in the elementary courses of geometry made the cultivated people to define the oval as an approximation to the ellipse, an “imperfect ellipse”: an oval was, then, a curve formed with arcs of circles which tries to approximate to the ellipse of the same axes. As we shall see, the ellipse has very rarely been used in building. Finally, in modern geometrical textbooks an oval is defined as a smooth closed convex curve, a more general definition which embraces the two previous, but which is of no particular use in the study of the employment of oval forms in building. The present paper contains the following parts: 1) an outline the origin and application of the oval in historical architecture; 2) a discussion of the spatial geometry of oval domes, i. e., the different methods employed to trace them; 3) a brief exposition of the mechanics of oval arches and domes; and 4) a final discussion of the role of Geometry in oval arch and dome design

Sketch-based interaction and modeling: where do we stand?

Sketching is a natural and intuitive communication tool used for expressing concepts or ideas which are difficult to communicate through text or speech alone. Sketching is therefore used for a variety of purposes, from the expression of ideas on two-dimensional (2D) physical media, to object creation, manipulation, or deformation in three-dimensional (3D) immersive environments. This variety in sketching activities brings about a range of technologies which, while having similar scope, namely that of recording and interpreting the sketch gesture to effect some interaction, adopt different interpretation approaches according to the environment in which the sketch is drawn. In fields such as product design, sketches are drawn at various stages of the design process, and therefore, designers would benefit from sketch interpretation technologies which support these differing interactions. However, research typically focuses on one aspect of sketch interpretation and modeling such that literature on available technologies is fragmented and dispersed. In this paper, we bring together the relevant literature describing technologies which can support the product design industry, namely technologies which support the interpretation of sketches drawn on 2D media, sketch-based search interactions, as well as sketch gestures drawn in 3D media. This paper, therefore, gives a holistic view of the algorithmic support that can be provided in the design process. In so doing, we highlight the research gaps and future research directions required to provide full sketch-based interaction support

De novo mutations in SMCHD1 cause Bosma arhinia microphthalmia syndrome and abrogate nasal development

Bosma arhinia microphthalmia syndrome (BAMS) is an extremely rare and striking condition characterized by complete absence of the nose with or without ocular defects. We report here that missense mutations in the epigenetic regulator SMCHD1 mapping to the extended ATPase domain of the encoded protein cause BAMS in all 14 cases studied. All mutations were de novo where parental DNA was available. Biochemical tests and in vivo assays in Xenopus laevis embryos suggest that these mutations may behave as gain-of-function alleles. This finding is in contrast to the loss-of-function mutations in SMCHD1 that have been associated with facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD) type 2. Our results establish SMCHD1 as a key player in nasal development and provide biochemical insight into its enzymatic function that may be exploited for development of therapeutics for FSHD

Effect of pH of amine fluoride containing toothpastes on enamel remineralization in vitro

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>One of the important factors of the demineralization and remineralization equilibrium of enamel is the pH of the surrounding solutions. Effort has been laid in the formulation of different fluoride compounds and the fluoride content in toothpastes but much less is known about the influence of the pH of the toothpastes on their effectiveness. It was therefore the aim of this study to investigate the influence of different pH levels on enamel remineralization in an in vitro experiment using polarization light microscopy and EDX quantitative element analysis.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A 5 × 5 mm window on the enamel surface of 40 caries free extracted human premolars was demineralized in a hydroxyethylcellulose solution at pH 4.8. The teeth were divided into 8 groups and the lower half of the window was covered with varnish serving as control. Each group was then immersed in toothpaste slurry containing amine fluoride (1400 ppm) at pH 4.1, 4.5, 5.1 and 6.9 or control toothpaste slurry without fluoride at pH 4.3, 4.7, 5.3 and 7.0. Serial sections were cut through the lesions and investigated with polarization light microscopy and quantitative EDX element analysis.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The PLM results showed a decreased porous volume of the body of the lesion after incubation with fluoridated toothpaste at pH 4.53 and 5.16. No differences between the experimental window and the control window were found in the other groups. The quantitative element analysis showed no differences in the element content of any of the groups.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>From the results it can be concluded that slightly acidified fluoridated dentifrices may have a certain positive effect on enamel remineralization.</p