Standardization of references using Hidden Markov Model

In general, technical papers are augmented with a list of bibliographic citations to support the arguments and the merits of the approach presented. Each and every citation is made up of parts like author, journal, volume, book etc. Extracting the parts of the citation from a written document and properly separating into its parts is the problem that is being addressed in this thesis; We use an Information Extraction (IE) technique based on Hidden Markov Model (HMM) to solve this problem. This solution consists of the design of an HMM, the training of the HMM with tagged data, and an implementation of Forward Chaining algorithm for extraction of citation parts. Our test on a collection of 150 citations has recall and precision of 0.8 and 0.81 respectively

Feasibility Analysis of Solar Power for the Safety of Fast Reactors during beyond Design Basis Events

This chapter presents a new design that unites the favorable technical and ecological characteristics of the solar and nuclear power plants. The current designs of nuclear reactors promise integral configuration of the primary coolant loop, secondary coolant loop, and a number of passive safety functions and overall simplification of the reactor. The present nuclear reactor design emphasizes on the safety of the reactor core at all times, i.e., controlling the reactor, cooling the reactor core, and maintaining containment. In case of non-availability of standby emergency DGs during beyond design basis event like Fukushima incident, etc., leading to extended station blackout conditions, the passive decay heat removal system will be affected. Hence, additional DGs have been made as a mandatory requirement in nuclear power plants. In case the ADG could not be mobilized during BDBE, an additional backup power source not affected by BDBE is appreciated. Hence in addition to the diesel power sources (EDG and ADG), a new design was developed for integration of diesel power with solar power. The hybrid system was designed to improve the reliability and availability of passive heat removal system, to ensure a reliable supply without interruption, and to improve the overall system reliability (by the integration with the battery bank). This hybrid power also gives the redundant power supply to the safety critical systems. This chapter also features a detailed reliability analysis carried out for power supplies to the safety critical loads. In addition a comparison was made between PV/diesel/battery with diesel/battery. These new hybrid systems conserves diesel fuel and reduce CO2 as well as particulate emissions that are harmful to environment health. Integration of solar power to the existing battery power will increase the reliability and extended availability of the system and thereby ensures safety of the plant during crisis/calamities

Critical Role of Klf5 in Regulating Gene Expression during Post-Eyelid Opening Maturation of Mouse Corneas

Background: Klf5 plays an important role in maturation and maintenance of the mouse ocular surface. Here, we quantify WT and Klf5-conditional null (Klf5CN) corneal gene expression, identify Klf5-target genes and compare them with the previously identified Klf4-target genes to understand the molecular basis for non-redundant functions of Klf4 and Klf5 in the cornea. Methodology/Principal Findings: Postnatal day-11 (PN11) and PN56 WT and Klf5CN corneal transcriptomes were quantified by microarrays to compare gene expression in maturing WT corneas, identify Klf5-target genes, and compare corneal Klf4- and Klf5-target genes. Whole-mount corneal immunofluorescent staining was employed to examine CD45+ cell influx and neovascularization. Effect of Klf5 on expression of desmosomal components was studied by immunofluorescent staining and transient co-transfection assays. Expression of 714 and 753 genes was increased, and 299 and 210 genes decreased in PN11 and PN56 Klf5CN corneas, respectively, with 366 concordant increases and 72 concordant decreases. PN56 Klf5CN corneas shared 241 increases and 98 decreases with those previously described in Klf4CN corneas. Xenobiotic metabolism related pathways were enriched among genes decreased in Klf5CN corneas. Expression of angiogenesis and immune response-related genes was elevated, consistent with neovascularization and CD45+ cell influx in Klf5CN corneas. Expression of 1574 genes was increased and 1915 genes decreased in WT PN56 compared with PN11 corneas. Expression of ECM-associated genes decreased, while that of solute carrier family members increased in WT PN56 compared with PN11 corneas. Dsg1a, Dsg1b and Dsp were down-regulated in Klf5CN corneas and their corresponding promoter activities were stimulated by Klf5 in transient co-transfection assays. Conclusions/Significance: Differences between PN11 and PN56 corneal Klf5-target genes reveal dynamic changes in functions of Klf5 during corneal maturation. Klf5 contributes to corneal epithelial homeostasis by regulating the expression of desmosomal components. Klf4- and Klf5-target genes are largely distinct, consistent with their non-redundant roles in the mouse cornea. © 2012 Kenchegowda et al

Design of High Power Regenerative Battery Discharger System for Nuclear Power Plant

In a Nuclear Power reactor, safety loads are backed by standby battery system. The healthiness of the battery is very essential requirement and prominent attention is given to availability and reliability of battery supply in nuclear plants. Hence regular monitoring and testing the performance of the battery is a prime requirement. The capacity and load cycle discharge testing of the battery is done annually and the current system employed is to discharge the battery current through resistor banks, which results in unusable power consumption and is uneconomical. The growing trend in power electronics field has given the new technology of regenerating the dissipated power to grid. This paper proposes a high power electronic regenerative technology with high efficiency, low harmonics to pump the dc power to the grid. Though, it is available at lower rating in industry, the paper proposes a high power regenerative discharge system. The topology selected is interleaved boost converter interfaced to a three phase grid connected inverter. The challenges involved are high power operation, steep current discharges with a minimal interference to the normal plant operation power supplies during the regeneration. This paper also presents the system design and simulation results

Blockchain-Based Distributed Marketplace

Developments in Blockchain technology have enabled the creation of smart contracts; i.e., self-executing code that is stored and executed on the Blockchain. This has led to the creation of distributed, decentralised applications, along with frameworks for developing and deploying them easily. This paper describes a proof-of-concept system that implements a distributed online marketplace using the Ethereum framework, where buyers and sellers can engage in e-commerce transactions without the need of a large central entity coordinating the process. The performance of the system was measured in terms of cost of use through the concept of ‘gas usage’. It was determined that such costs are significantly less than that of Amazon and eBay for high volume users. The findings generally support the ability to use Ethereum to create a distributed on-chain market, however, there are still areas that require further research and development

Regulation of Mouse Small Heat Shock Protein αb-Crystallin Gene by Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor

The stress-inducible small heat shock protein (shsp)/αB-crystallin gene is expressed highly in the lens and moderately in other tissues. Here we provide evidence that it is a target gene of the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) transcription factor. A sequence (−329/−323, CATGCGA) similar to the consensus xenobiotic responsive element (XRE), called here XRE-like, is present in the αBE2 region of αB-crystallin enhancer and can bind AhR in vitro and in vivo. αB-crystallin protein levels were reduced in retina, lens, cornea, heart, skeletal muscle and cultured muscle fibroblasts of AhR−/− mice; αB-crystallin mRNA levels were reduced in the eye, heart and skeletal muscle of AhR−/− mice. Increased AhR stimulated αB-crystallin expression in transfection experiments conducted in conjunction with the aryl hydrocarbon receptor nuclear translocator (ARNT) and decreased AhR reduced αB-crystallin expression. AhR effect on aB-crystallin promoter activity was cell-dependent in transfection experiments. AhR up-regulated αB-crystallin promoter activity in transfected HeLa, NIH3T3 and COS-7 cells in the absence of exogenously added ligand (TCDD), but had no effect on the αB-crystallin promoter in C2C12, CV-1 or Hepa-1 cells with or without TCDD. TCDD enhanced AhR-stimulated αB-crystallin promoter activity in transfected αTN4 cells. AhR could bind to an XRE-like site in the αB-crystallin enhancer in vitro and in vivo. Finally, site-specific mutagenesis experiments showed that the XRE-like motif was necessary for both basal and maximal AhR-induction of αB-crystallin promoter activity. Our data strongly suggest that AhR is a regulator of αB-crystallin gene expression and provide new avenues of research for the mechanism of tissue-specific αB-crystallin gene regulation under normal and physiologically stressed conditions

Stromal Edema in Klf4 Conditional Null Mouse Cornea Is Associated with Altered Collagen Fibril Organization and Reduced Proteoglycans

PURPOSE. Klf4, one of the highly expressed transcription factors in the mouse cornea, plays an important role in maturation and maintenance of the ocular surface. In this study, the structure and proteoglycan composition of the Klf4 conditional null (Klf4CN) corneal stroma was investigated, to further characterize the previously reported Klf4CN stromal edema. METHODS. Collagen fibril spacing and diameter were calculated from scattering intensity profiles from small angle synchrotron x-ray scattering patterns obtained across the cornea along a vertical meridian at 0.5-mm intervals. Collagen fibril organization and proteoglycans were visualized by electron microscopy (EM), with or without the cationic dye cuprolinic blue. Proteoglycans and glycosaminoglycans were further analyzed by fluorophore-assisted carbohydrate electrophoresis (FACE) and immunoblot analysis. Q-RT-PCR was used to measure the transcript levels. RESULTS. In the central cornea, the average collagen interfibrillar Bragg spacing increased from 44.5 nm (SD ±1.8) in wild-type to 66.5 nm (SD ±2.3) in Klf4CN, as measured by x-ray scattering and confirmed by EM. Mean collagen fibril diameter increased from 32 nm (SD ±0.4) in wild-type to 42.3 nm (SD ±4.8) in Klf4CN corneal stroma. Downregulation of proteoglycans detected by EM in the Klf4CN stroma was confirmed by FACE and immunoblot analysis. Q-RT-PCR showed that, whereas the Klf4CN corneal proteoglycan transcript levels remained unchanged, matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) transcript levels were significantly upregulated. CONCLUSIONS. The Klf4CN corneal stromal edema is characterized by increased collagen interfibrillar spacing and increased diameter of individual fibrils. The stroma also exhibits reduced interfibrillar proteoglycans throughout, which is possibly caused by increased expression of MMPs

Sequence specificity of single-stranded DNA-binding proteins: a novel DNA microarray approach

We have developed a novel DNA microarray-based approach for identification of the sequence-specificity of single-stranded nucleic-acid-binding proteins (SNABPs). For verification, we have shown that the major cold shock protein (CspB) from Bacillus subtilis binds with high affinity to pyrimidine-rich sequences, with a binding preference for the consensus sequence, 5′-GTCTTTG/T-3′. The sequence was modelled onto the known structure of CspB and a cytosine-binding pocket was identified, which explains the strong preference for a cytosine base at position 3. This microarray method offers a rapid high-throughput approach for determining the specificity and strength of ss DNA–protein interactions. Further screening of this newly emerging family of transcription factors will help provide an insight into their cellular function