Expert System Development Methodology (ESDM)

The Expert System Development Methodology (ESDM) provides an approach to developing expert system software. Because of the uncertainty associated with this process, an element of risk is involved. ESDM is designed to address the issue of risk and to acquire the information needed for this purpose in an evolutionary manner. ESDM presents a life cycle in which a prototype evolves through five stages of development. Each stage consists of five steps, leading to a prototype for that stage. Development may proceed to a conventional development methodology (CDM) at any time if enough has been learned about the problem to write requirements. ESDM produces requirements so that a product may be built with a CDM. ESDM is considered preliminary because is has not yet been applied to actual projects. It has been retrospectively evaluated by comparing the methods used in two ongoing expert system development projects that did not explicitly choose to use this methodology but which provided useful insights into actual expert system development practices and problems

Self-assembly of rod-coil block copolymers from weakly to moderately segregated regimes

Abstract.: We report on the self-assembly behaviour of two homologue series of rod-coil block copolymers in which, the rod, a π -conjugated polymer, is maintained fixed in size and chemical structure, while the coil is allowed to vary both in molecular weight and chemical nature. This allows maintaining constant the liquid crystalline interactions, expressed by Maier-Saupe interactions, ω , while varying the tendency towards microphase separation, expressed by the product between the Flory-Huggins parameter and the total polymerization degree, χN . Therefore, the systems presented here allow testing directly some of the theoretical predictions for the self-assembly of rod-coil block copolymers in a weakly segregated regime. The two rod-coil block copolymer systems investigated were poly(DEH-p-phenylenevinylene-b-styrene), whose self-assembly takes place in the very weakly segregated regime, and poly(DEH-p-phenylenevinylene-b-4vinylpyridine), for which the self-assembly behaviour occurs under increased tendency towards microphase separation, hereby referred to as moderately segregated regime. Experimental results for both systems are compared with predictions based on Landau expansion theorie

Self-assembly of rod-coil block copolymers from weakly to moderately segregated regimes

We report on the self-assembly behaviour of two homologue series of rod-coil block copolymers in which, the rod, a π -conjugated polymer, is maintained fixed in size and chemical structure, while the coil is allowed to vary both in molecular weight and chemical nature. This allows maintaining constant the liquid crystalline interactions, expressed by Maier-Saupe interactions, ω , while varying the tendency towards microphase separation, expressed by the product between the Flory-Huggins parameter and the total polymerization degree, χN . Therefore, the systems presented here allow testing directly some of the theoretical predictions for the self- assembly of rod-coil block copolymers in a weakly segregated regime. The two rod- coil block copolymer systems investigated were poly(DEH-p-phenylenevinylene-b- styrene), whose self-assembly takes place in the very weakly segregated regime, and poly(DEH-p-phenylenevinylene-b-4vinylpyridine), for which the self-assembly behaviour occurs under increased tendency towards microphase separation, hereby referred to as moderately segregated regime. Experimental results for both systems are compared with predictions based on Landau expansion theories

Bioética del trabajo en desastres

En esta reflexión que se desarrolla a partir del concepto dedesastres y el de bioética se especifica la relación entre laprevención y la acción con respecto a los principios rectoresde la bioética: no maleficencia, beneficencia, autonomía yjusticia, analizados bajo los fundamentos de los derechoshumanos, la solidaridad y la ayuda humanitaria, y concluyecon la propuesta de objetivos para trabajar desde el enfoquede la bioética en desastres

Bioética del trabajo en desastres

En esta reflexión que se desarrolla a partir del concepto dedesastres y el de bioética se especifica la relación entre laprevención y la acción con respecto a los principios rectoresde la bioética: no maleficencia, beneficencia, autonomía yjusticia, analizados bajo los fundamentos de los derechoshumanos, la solidaridad y la ayuda humanitaria, y concluyecon la propuesta de objetivos para trabajar desde el enfoquede la bioética en desastres

Bioética del trabajo en desastres

En esta reflexión que se desarrolla a partir del concepto dedesastres y el de bioética se especifica la relación entre laprevención y la acción con respecto a los principios rectoresde la bioética: no maleficencia, beneficencia, autonomía yjusticia, analizados bajo los fundamentos de los derechoshumanos, la solidaridad y la ayuda humanitaria, y concluyecon la propuesta de objetivos para trabajar desde el enfoquede la bioética en desastres

Relationships between the Parity and Pelvimetry of Egyptian Buffalo Cows: Prediction of Dystocia and Estimation of Age

Background: The current study aimed to determine the most strongly correlated variable of pelvimetry with the parity in our native breed Egyptian buffaloes. Methods: The study was conducted on 36 female buffaloes (nullipara, n=14, primipara n=6 and pluripara, n=16 with 2-4 births) aged between <15 months, n=15 and 65 months, n=21. The internal and external pelvic measurements were obtained using the rice pelvimeter and Freeman’s measuring tape. Results: Strong positive linear relationships were found for the distance between ischiatic tuberosities and the distance between sacral tubercles with the correlation coefficients of 0.64 and 0.62, respectively. The conjugate diameter increased progressively with the age and number of births, with a correlation coefficient of 0.96. The pelvic area had a very strong positive linear relationship with a correlation coefficient of 0.89. The linear combination of the predictor variable (conjugate diameter), to predict the number of birth was developed successfully. Conclusion: The strong relationship between the conjugate diameter and the number of births could be employed to predict the dystocia and estimate the age of female buffalo. Furthermore, these findings could be aid paleontologists in studying buffalo fossils

Joint analysis of left ventricular expression and circulating plasma levels of Omentin after myocardial ischemia

BACKGROUND: Omentin-1, also known as Intelectin-1 (ITLN1), is an adipokine with plasma levels associated with diabetes, obesity, and coronary artery disease. Recent studies suggest that ITLN1 can mitigate myocardial ischemic injury but the expression of ITLN1 in the heart itself has not been well characterized. The purpose of this study is to discern the relationship between the expression pattern of ITLN1 RNA in the human heart and the level of circulating ITLN1 protein in plasma from the same patients following myocardial ischemia. METHODS: A large cohort of patients (n = 140) undergoing elective cardiac surgery for aortic valve replacement were enrolled in this study. Plasma and left ventricular biopsy samples were taken at the beginning of cardiopulmonary bypass and after an average of 82 min of ischemic cross clamp time. The localization of ITLN1 in epicardial adipose tissue (EAT) was also further characterized with immunoassays and cell fate transition studies. RESULTS: mRNA expression of ITLN1 decreases in left ventricular tissue after acute ischemia in human patients (mean difference 280.48, p = 0.001) whereas plasma protein levels of ITLN1 increase (mean difference 5.24, p \u3c 0.001). Immunohistochemistry localized ITLN1 to the mesothelium or visceral pericardium of EAT. Epithelial to mesenchymal transition in mesothelial cells leads to a downregulation of ITLN1 expression. CONCLUSIONS: Myocardial injury leads to a decrease in ITLN1 expression in the heart and a corresponding increase in plasma levels. These changes may in part be due to an epithelial to mesenchymal transition of the cells that express ITLN1 following ischemia. Trial Registration Clinicaltrials.gov ID: NCT00985049

"Shock and kill" effects of class I-selective histone deacetylase inhibitors in combination with the glutathione synthesis inhibitor buthionine sulfoximine in cell line models for HIV-1 quiescence

Latently infected, resting memory CD4+ T cells and macrophages represent a major obstacle to the eradication of HIV-1. For this purpose, "shock and kill" strategies have been proposed (activation of HIV-1 followed by stimuli leading to cell death). Histone deacetylase inhibitors (HDACIs) induce HIV-1 activation from quiescence, yet class/isoform-selective HDACIs are needed to specifically target HIV-1 latency. We tested 32 small molecule HDACIs for their ability to induce HIV-1 activation in the ACH-2 and U1 cell line models. In general, potent activators of HIV-1 replication were found among non-class selective and class I-selective HDACIs. However, class I selectivity did not reduce the toxicity of most of the molecules for uninfected cells, which is a major concern for possible HDACI-based therapies. To overcome this problem, complementary strategies using lower HDACI concentrations have been explored. We added to class I HDACIs the glutathione-synthesis inhibitor buthionine sulfoximine (BSO), in an attempt to create an intracellular environment that would facilitate HIV-1 activation. The basis for this strategy was that HIV-1 replication decreases the intracellular levels of reduced glutathione, creating a pro-oxidant environment which in turn stimulates HIV-1 transcription. We found that BSO increased the ability of class I HDACIs to activate HIV-1. This interaction allowed the use of both types of drugs at concentrations that were non-toxic for uninfected cells, whereas the infected cell cultures succumbed more readily to the drug combination. These effects were associated with BSO-induced recruitment of HDACI-insensitive cells into the responding cell population, as shown in Jurkat cell models for HIV-1 quiescence. The results of the present study may contribute to the future design of class I HDACIs for treating HIV-1. Moreover, the combined effects of class I-selective HDACIs and the glutathione synthesis inhibitor BSO suggest the existence of an Achilles' heel that could be manipulated in order to facilitate the "kill" phase of experimental HIV-1 eradication strategies

The Long Noncoding RNA Landscape of the Ischemic Human Left Ventricle

Background—The discovery of functional classes of long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) has expanded our understanding of the variety of RNA species that exist in cells. In the heart, lncRNAs have been implicated in the regulation of development, ischemic and dilated cardiomyopathy, and myocardial infarction. Nevertheless, there is a limited description of expression profiles for these transcripts in human subjects. Methods and Results—We obtained left ventricular tissue from human patients undergoing cardiac surgery and used RNA sequencing to describe a lncRNA profile. We then identified a list of lncRNAs that were differentially expressed between pairs of samples before and after the ischemic insult of cardiopulmonary bypass. The expression of some of these lncRNAs correlates with ischemic time. Coding genes in close proximity to differentially expressed lncRNAs as well as coding genes that have coordinated expression with these lncRNAs are enriched in functional categories related to myocardial infarction including: heart function, metabolism, the stress response, and the immune system. Conclusions—We describe a list of lncRNAs that are differentially expressed after ischemia in the human heart. These genes are predicted to function in pathways consistent with myocardial injury. As a result, lncRNAs may serve as novel diagnostic and therapeutic targets for ischemic heart disease