The use of hypermedia to increase the productivity of software development teams

Rapid progress in low-cost commercial PC-class multimedia workstation technology will potentially have a dramatic impact on the productivity of distributed work groups of 50-100 software developers. Hypermedia/multimedia involves the seamless integration in a graphical user interface (GUI) of a wide variety of data structures, including high-resolution graphics, maps, images, voice, and full-motion video. Hypermedia will normally require the manipulation of large dynamic files for which relational data base technology and SQL servers are essential. Basic machine architecture, special-purpose video boards, video equipment, optical memory, software needed for animation, network technology, and the anticipated increase in productivity that will result for the introduction of hypermedia technology are covered. It is suggested that the cost of the hardware and software to support an individual multimedia workstation will be on the order of $10,000

Method for imaging informational biological molecules on a semiconductor substrate

Imaging biological molecules such as DNA at rates several times faster than conventional imaging techniques is carried out using a patterned silicon wafer having nano-machined grooves which hold individual molecular strands and periodically spaced unique bar codes permitting repeatably locating all images. The strands are coaxed into the grooves preferably using gravity and pulsed electric fields which induce electric charge attraction to the molecular strands in the bottom surfaces of the grooves. Differential imaging removes substrate artifacts

Thermal Tolerance in Tropical Versus Subtropical Pacific Reef Corals

Upper lethal temperature tolerances of reef corals in Hawaii and at Enewetak, Marshall Islands, were determined in the field and under controlled laboratory conditions. Enewetak corals survived in situ temperatures of nearly 34° C, whereas 32° C was lethal to Hawaiian corals for similar short-term exposures. Laboratory determinations indicate that the upper thermal limits of Hawaiian corals are approximately 2° C less than congeners from the tropical Pacific. Differences in coral thermal tolerances correspond to differences in the ambient temperature patterns between geographic areas

A fuzzy logic controller for hormone administration using an implantable pump

This paper describes the requirements for a Fuzzy Logic Controller for the physiologic administration of hormones by means of a FDA-approved surgically implantable infusion pump. Results of a LabVIEW computer simulation for the administration of insulin for diabetic adult patients as well as human growth hormone for pediatric patients are presented. A VHS video tape of the simulation in action has been prepared and is available for viewing

An integrated information retrieval and document management system

This paper describes the requirements and prototype development for an intelligent document management and information retrieval system that will be capable of handling millions of pages of text or other data. Technologies for scanning, Optical Character Recognition (OCR), magneto-optical storage, and multiplatform retrieval using a Standard Query Language (SQL) will be discussed. The semantic ambiguity inherent in the English language is somewhat compensated-for through the use of coefficients or weighting factors for partial synonyms. Such coefficients are used both for defining structured query trees for routine queries and for establishing long-term interest profiles that can be used on a regular basis to alert individual users to the presence of relevant documents that may have just arrived from an external source, such as a news wire service. Although this attempt at evidential reasoning is limited in comparison with the latest developments in AI Expert Systems technology, it has the advantage of being commercially available

Colloidal particles at a nematic-isotropic interface: effects of confinement

When captured by a flat nematic-isotropic interface, colloidal particles can be dragged by it. As a result spatially periodic structures may appear, with the period depending on a particle mass, size, and interface velocity~\cite{west.jl:2002}. If liquid crystal is sandwiched between two substrates, the interface takes a wedge-like shape, accommodating the interface-substrate contact angle and minimizing the director distortions on its nematic side. Correspondingly, particles move along complex trajectories: they are first captured by the interface and then `glide' towards its vertex point. Our experiments quantify this scenario, and numerical minimization of the Landau-de Gennes free energy allow for a qualitative description of the interfacial structure and the drag force.Comment: 7 pages, 9 figure

The cerebellum ages slowly according to the epigenetic clock

Studies that elucidate why some human tissues age faster than others may shed light on how we age, and ultimately suggest what interventions may be possible. Here we utilize a recent biomarker of aging (referred to as epigenetic clock) to assess the epigenetic ages of up to 30 anatomic sites from supercentenarians (subjects who reached an age of 110 or older) and younger subjects. Using three novel and three published human DNA methylation data sets, we demonstrate that the cerebellum ages more slowly than other parts of the human body. We used both transcriptional data and genetic data to elucidate molecular mechanisms which may explain this finding. The two largest superfamilies of helicases (SF1 and SF2) are significantly over-represented (p=9.2x10-9) among gene transcripts that are over-expressed in the cerebellum compared to other brain regions from the same subject. Furthermore, SNPs that are associated with epigenetic age acceleration in the cerebellum tend to be located near genes from helicase superfamilies SF1 and SF2 (enrichment p=5.8x10-3). Our genetic and transcriptional studies of epigenetic age acceleration support the hypothesis that the slow aging rate of the cerebellum is due to processes that involve RNA helicases

Increasing the flexoelastic ratio of liquid crystals using highly fluorinated ester-linked bimesogens

We present experimental results on the bulk flexoelectric coefficients e and effective elastic coefficients K of non-symmetric bimesogenic liquid crystals when the number of terminal and lateral fluoro substituents is increased. These coefficients are of importance because the flexoelastic ratio e/K governs the magnitude of flexoelectro-optic switching in chiral nematic liquid crystals. The study is carried out for two different types of linkage in the flexible spacer chain that connects the separate mesogenic units: these are either an ether or an ester unit. It is found that increasing the number of fluorine atoms on the mesogenic units typically leads to a small increase in e and a decrease in K, resulting in an enhancement of e/K. The most dramatic increase in e/K, however, is observed when the linking group is changed from ether to ester units, which can largely be attributed to an increase in e. Increasing the number of fluorine atoms does, however, increase the viscoelastic ratio and therefore leads to a concomitant increase in the response time. This is observed for both types of linkage, although the ester-linked compounds exhibit smaller viscoelastic ratios compared with their ether-linked counterparts. Highly fluorinated ester-linked compounds are also found to exhibit lower transition temperatures and dielectric anisotropies. As a result, these compounds are promising materials for use in electro-optic devices.11Nsciescopu

A multinuclear solid state NMR, density functional theory and X-Ray diffraction study of hydrogen bonding in Group I hydrogen dibenzoates

An NMR crystallographic approach incorporating multinuclear solid state NMR (SSNMR), X-ray structure determinations and density functional theory (DFT) are used to characterise the H bonding arrangements in benzoic acid (BZA) and the corresponding Group I alkali metal hydrogen dibenzoates (HD) systems. Since the XRD data often cannot precisely confirm the proton position within the hydrogen bond, the relationship between the experimental SSNMR parameters and the ability of gauge included plane augmented wave (GIPAW) DFT to predict them becomes a powerful constraint that can assist with further structure refinement. Both the 1H and 13C MAS NMR methods provide primary descriptions of the H bonding via accurate measurements of the 1H and 13C isotropic chemical shifts, and the individual 13C chemical shift tensor elements; these are unequivocally corroborated by DFT calculations, which together accurately describe the trend of the H bonding strength as the size of the monovalent cation changes. In addition, 17O MAS and DOR NMR form a powerful combination to characterise the O environments, with the DOR technique providing highly resolved 17O NMR data which helps verify unequivocally the number of inequivalent O positions for the conventional 17O MAS NMR to process. Further multinuclear MAS and static NMR studies involving the quadrupolar 7Li, 39K, 87Rb and 133Cs nuclei, and the associated DFT calculations, provide trends and a corroboration of the H bond geometry which assist in the understanding of these arrangements. Even though the crystallographic H positions in each H bonding arrangement reported from the single crystal X-ray studies are prone to uncertainty, the good corroboration between the measured and DFT calculated chemical shift and quadrupole tensor parameters for the Group I alkali species suggest that these reported H positions are reliable

Acute skin toxicity associated with a 1-week schedule of whole breast radiotherapy compared with a standard 3-week regimen delivered in the UK FAST-Forward Trial

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: FAST-Forward is a phase 3 clinical trial testing a 1-week course of whole breast radiotherapy against the UK standard 3-week regimen after primary surgery for early breast cancer. Two acute skin toxicity substudies were undertaken to test the safety of the test schedules with respect to early skin reactions. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Patients were randomly allocated to 40Gy/15 fractions (F)/3-weeks, 27Gy/5F/1-week or 26Gy/5F/1-week. Acute breast skin reactions were graded using RTOG (first substudy) and CTCAE criteria v4.03 (second substudy) weekly during treatment and for 4weeks after treatment ended. Primary endpoint was the proportion of patients within each treatment group with grade ⩾3 toxicity (RTOG and CTCAE, respectively) at any time from the start of radiotherapy to 4weeks after completion. RESULTS: 190 and 162 patients were recruited. In the first substudy, evaluable patients with grade 3 RTOG toxicity were: 40Gy/15F 6/44 (13.6%); 27Gy/5F 5/51 (9.8%); 26Gy/5F 3/52 (5.8%). In the second substudy, evaluable patients with grade 3 CTCAE toxicity were: 40Gy/15F 0/43; 27Gy/5F 1/41 (2.4%); 26Gy/5F 0/53. CONCLUSIONS: Acute breast skin reactions with two 1-week schedules of whole breast radiotherapy under test in FAST-Forward were mild