The Anticorrelated Nature of the Primary and Secondary Eclipse Timing Variations for the Kepler Contact Binaries

We report on a study of eclipse timing variations in contact binary systems, using long-cadence lightcurves in the Kepler archive. As a first step, 'observed minus calculated' (O-C) curves were produced for both the primary and secondary eclipses of some 2000 Kepler binaries. We find ~390 short-period binaries with O-C curves that exhibit (i) random-walk like variations or quasi-periodicities, with typical amplitudes of +/- 200-300 seconds, and (ii) anticorrelations between the primary and secondary eclipse timing variations. We present a detailed analysis and results for 32 of these binaries with orbital periods in the range of 0.35 +/- 0.05 days. The anticorrelations observed in their O-C curves cannot be explained by a model involving mass transfer, which among other things requires implausibly high rates of ~0.01 M_sun per year. We show that the anticorrelated behavior, the amplitude of the O-C delays, and the overall random-walk like behavior can be explained by the presence of a starspot that is continuously visible around the orbit and slowly changes its longitude on timescales of weeks to months. The quasi-periods of ~50-200 days observed in the O-C curves suggest values for k, the coefficient of the latitude dependence of the stellar differential rotation, of ~0.003-0.013.Comment: Published in The Astrophysical Journal, 2013, Vol. 774, p.81; 14 pages, 12 figures, and 2 table

Large-scale albuminuria screen for nephropathy models in chemically induced mouse mutants

Background/Aim: Phenotype-driven screening of a great pool of randomly mutant mice and subsequent selection of animals showing symptoms equivalent to human kidney diseases may result in the generation of novel suitable models for the study of the pathomechanisms and the identification of genes involved in kidney dysfunction. Methods: We carried out a large-scale analysis of ethylnitrosourea (ENU)-induced mouse mutants for albuminuria by using qualitative SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Results: The primary albuminuria screen preceded the comprehensive phenotypic mutation analysis in a part of the mice of the Munich ENU project to avoid loss of mutant animals as a consequence of prolonged suffering from severe nephropathy. The primary screen detected six confirmed phenotypic variants in 2,011 G1 animals screened for dominant mutations and no variant in 48 G3 pedigrees screened for recessive mutations. Further breeding experiments resulted in two lines showing a low phenotypic penetrance of albuminuria. The secondary albuminuria screen was carried out in mutant lines which were established in the Munich ENU project without preceding primary albuminuria analysis. Two lines showing increased plasma urea levels were chosen to clarify if severe kidney lesions are involved in the abnormal phenotype. This analysis revealed severe albuminuria in mice which are affected by a recessive mutation leading to increased plasma urea and cholesterol levels. Conclusion: Thus, the phenotypic selection of ENU-induced mutants according to the parameter proteinuria in principle demonstrates the feasibility to identify nephropathy phenotypes in ENU-mutagenized mice. Copyright (C) 2005 S. Karger AG, Basel

ProfPPIdb: Pairs of physical protein-protein interactions predicted for entire proteomes

Motivation Protein-protein interactions (PPIs) play a key role in many cellular processes. Most annotations of PPIs mix experimental and computational data. The mix optimizes coverage, but obfuscates the annotation origin. Some resources excel at focusing on reliable experimental data. Here, we focused on new pairs of interacting proteins for several model organisms based solely on sequence-based prediction methods. Results We extracted reliable experimental data about which proteins interact (binary) for eight diverse model organisms from public databases, namely from Escherichia coli, Schizosaccharomyces pombe, Plasmodium falciparum, Drosophila melanogaster, Caenorhabditis elegans, Mus musculus, Rattus norvegicus, Arabidopsis thaliana, and for the previously used Homo sapiens and Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Those data were the base to develop a PPI prediction method for each model organism. The method used evolutionary information through a profile-kernel Support Vector Machine (SVM). With the resulting eight models, we predicted all possible protein pairs in each organism and made the top predictions available through a web application. Almost all of the PPIs made available were predicted between proteins that have not been observed in any interaction, in particular for less well-studied organisms. Thus, our work complements existing resources and is particularly helpful for designing experiments because of its uniqueness. Experimental annotations and computational predictions are strongly influenced by the fact that some proteins have many partners and others few. To optimize machine learning, recent methods explicitly ignored such a network-structure and rely either on domain knowledge or sequence-only methods. Our approach is independent of domain-knowledge and leverages evolutionary information. The database interface representing our results is accessible from https://rostlab.org/services/ppipair/. The data can also be downloaded from https://figshare.com/collections/ProfPPI-DB/4141784

Cognitive Bias Modification: Induced Interpretive Biases Affect Memory

Previous research has shown that it is possible to experimentally induce interpretive biases using ambiguous scenarios. This study extends past findings by examining the effects of manipulating interpretation on subsequent memory. Participants were trained to interpret emotionally ambiguous passages in either a positive or negative direction. Transfer of the training to novel scenarios was tested. Following training, participants were also asked to recall details from these novel scenarios. The results indicate that the training was effective in inducing the intended group differences in interpretive bias. Importantly, participants exhibited memory biases that corresponded to their training condition. These results suggest that manipulating interpretive biases can result in corresponding changes in memory. Findings from this study highlight the importance of future research on the relation among cognitive biases and on the possibility of modifying cognitive biases in emotional disorders

Petrographic Characteristics and Depositional Environment Evolution of Middle Miocene Sediments in the Thien Ung - Mang Cau Structure of Nam Con Son Basin

This paper introduces the petrographic characteristics and depositional environment of Middle Miocene rocks of the Thien Ung - Mang Cau structure in the central area of Nam Con Son Basin based on the results of analyzing thin sections and structural characteristics of core samples. Middle Miocene sedimentary rocks in the studied area can be divided into three groups: (1) Group of terrigenous rocks comprising greywacke sandstone, arkosic sandstone, lithic-quartz sandstone, greywacke-lithic sandstone, oligomictic siltstone, and bitumenous claystone; (2) Group of carbonate rocks comprising dolomitic limestone and bituminous limestone; (3) Mixed group comprising calcareous sandstone, calcarinate sandstone, arenaceous limestone, calcareous claystone, calcareous silty claystone, dolomitic limestone containing silt, and bitumen. The depositional environment is expressed through petrographic characteristics and structure of the sedimentary rocks in core samples. The greywacke and arkosic sandstones are of medium grain size, poor sorting and roundness, and siliceous cement characterizing the alluvial and estuarine fan environment expressed by massive structure of core samples. The mixed calcareous limestone, arenaceous dolomitic limestone, and calcareous and bituminous clayey siltstone in the core samples are of turbulent flow structure characterizing shallow bay environment with the action of bottom currents. The dolomitic limestones are of relatively homogeneous, of microgranular and fine-granular texture, precipitated in a weakly reducing, semi-closed, and relatively calm bay environment

Prediction of cattle density and location at the frontier of Brazil and Paraguay using remote sensing

In this paper, we explore the potential of remote sensing to map pastures areas and by this way establish models for predicting cattle density and location. First, an object based classification (OB) was made in Landsat 5 images for three different municipalities to provide a land-cover map. Second, on the basis of Brazilian official livestock database, a statistical model to predict number of cattle in function of declared pasture area by the farmers was produced. Finally, this model was applied to the pasture areas detected by remote sensing to predict cattle density. Coefficient of determination of the model was 0.63. The results indicate that the methodology used for estimating cattle density has a potential to be applied in regions where no information about farm location and cattle density exists. (Résumé d'auteur

Protocol for an economic evaluation alongside a cluster randomised controlled trial: cost-effectiveness of Learning Clubs, a multicomponent intervention to improve women’s health and infant’s health and development in Vietnam

Introduction: Economic evaluations of complex interventions in early child development are required to guide policy and programme development, but a few are yet available. Methods and analysis: Although significant gains have been made in maternal and child health in resource- constrained environments, this has mainly been concentrated on improving physical health. The Learning Clubs programme addresses both physical and mental child and maternal health. This study is an economic evaluation of a cluster randomised controlled trial of the impact of the Learning Clubs programme in Vietnam. It will be conducted from a societal perspective and aims to identify the cost-effectiveness and the economic and social returns of the intervention. A total of 1008 pregnant women recruited from 84 communes in a rural province in Vietnam will be included in the evaluation. Health and cost data will be gathered at three stages of the trial and used to calculate incremental cost-effectiveness ratios per percentage point improvement of infant’s development, infant’s health and maternal common mental disorders expressed in quality-adjusted life years gained. The return on investment will be calculated based on improvements in productivity, the results being expressed as benefit–cost ratios. Ethics and dissemination: The trial was approved by Monash University Human Research Ethics Committee (Certificate Number 2016–0683), Australia, and approval was extended to include the economic evaluation (Amendment Review Number 2018-0683-23806); and the Institutional Review Board of the Hanoi School of Public Health (Certificate Number 017-377IDD- YTCC), Vietnam. Results will be disseminated through academic journals and conference presentations

A graphical simulator for the cryptanalysis of block ciphers

We have designed and implemented a graphical simulator for the use of students in the Master of Applied Science (information security) program at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia. During this process, a lot of practical experience was gained which aids future designers who address similar problems, especially if the design aims include the realistic simulation, in a reasonable time, of a process, cryptanalysis - which often takes many days or weeks of computation by powerful computers

Transport properties in Simplified Double Exchange model

Transport properties of the manganites by the double-exchange mechanism are considered. The system is modeled by a simplified double-exchange model, i.e. the Hund coupling of the itinerant electron spins and local spins is simplified to the Ising-type one. The transport properties such as the electronic resistivity, the thermal conductivity, and the thermal power are calculated by using Dynamical mean-field theory. The transport quantities obtained qualitatively reproduce the ones observed in the manganites. The results suggest that the Simplified double exchange model underlies the key properties of the manganites.Comment: 5 pages, 5 eps figure